SHIOGAMA SEAFOOD WHOLESALE MARKET
This wholesale market is open to both dealers and the general public. There are around 140 stalls selling all kinds of fresh seafood landed at the neighboring Shiogama Port. Shiogama is particularly well known for its incredibly high-quality maguro (red tuna). There are at least twenty stalls at the market that specialize in it. Walk by at the right moment and you may even be lucky enough to watch them carve one in front of you!
WORLD-CLASS SEAFOOD
Unrivaled variety, quality, and freshness
KESENNUMA FISH MARKET
Kesennuma Port, one of the largest fishing ports in Japan, accounts for more than 70% of the country’s shark and swordfish production. It is also a major producer of mackerel, salmon, shellfish, and katsuo (skipjack tuna). The wholesale fish market here is a place where visitors can watch ships unload their haul and observe as buyers take part in silent auctions.
My Kaisendon
Custom seafood rice bowls at the Shiogama Seafood Wholesale Market
At the back of the Shiogama Seafood Wholesale Market you’ll find the My Kaisendon Corner, offering visitors build-your-own kaisendon (seafood rice bowl) meals. Purchase a set of rice and miso soup for ¥400 from the booth, then trawl the market for toppings. Vendors here sell small servings of fresh seafood for this purpose, so customers can mix and match toppings however they please to create their custom rice bowl.
YURIAGE PORT MORNING MARKET
Participate in a real fish-market auction
Yuriage has been a principal fishing port of Sendai since the Edo period. People come here from all over the area to snap up ultra-fresh seafood and produce, from market stalls and at auction. Unlike auctions at other fish markets, the one here is open to the public and all are invited to participate. Bid against locals for fresh seafood and produce—if your reflexes are quick enough you just might win something!
Sushi Shirahata
A must-visit in Japan's sushi capital
Shiogama is known as the “Sushi Capital of Japan” for having the greatest number of sushi restaurants per capita in the entire country. Located less than thirty minutes from Sendai by train, this small city of 50,000 people is home to more than twenty sushi restaurants, all known for the quality of their product. One of the oldest and best-known is Sushi Shirahata, founded 35 years ago. It serves delicious nigiri and maki sushi, donburi and miso soup to sushi lovers coming to Shiogama for a high-class sushi experience.
Kirakiradon
Sparkling seafood rice bowls
The coastal town of Minamisanriku has a uniquely beautiful take on the classic kaisendon seafood rice bowl. Named for the sparkle of the sun and sea, each season brings a different main ingredient, most famously the glittering ikura (salmon roe), which live up to the dish’s name.