【Reading】さかいみなと

【English Name】Sakaiminato port

Sakaiminato is the general name for one of the nation's leading fishing ports and harbors in terms of landing scale, centered on Sakaiminato City, Tottori Prefecture. The harbor area straddles Tottori Prefecture and Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, and it is also an important port managed and operated by a management association established under an agreement concluded by the two prefectures.

The landed species are diverse, including, in addition to popular fish such as Japanese sardine, mackerel, horse mackerel, and yellowtail, the red snow crab (benizuwai-gani) and snow crab (zuwai-gani, called matsuba-gani in the San'in region), and even bluefin tuna (kuro-maguro). Among these, the red snow crab boasts one of the nation's largest landing scales and is widely distributed as processed products as well. The red snow crab fishing season is long, mainly September to the following June, while snow crab centers on around November to March.

Bluefin tuna is caught mainly from June to July by purse-seine fishing and is known by the name Sakaiminato natural honmaguro. The high-freshness tuna and crab right after landing can be enjoyed at local sushi restaurants and direct-sales facilities, and are also shipped to markets across the country. Their evaluation as sushi toppings is high, and the freshness unique to the production area is an attraction.