The “Fishermen’s Festival and Discovery Program: The Remarkable Craft of Fishermen” is a project of the Reconstruction Agency to attract foreign tourists to the coastal region of Miyagi Prefecture, in northeastern Japan, in revitalizing the region’s fishing industry through its exploitation as a tourist resource. The project seeks to create forums and opportunities for foreign tourists to interact with local residents and Japanese tourists by transforming the jobs and lives of people working in the fishing and food processing industries into tourism content. of the sea, highlighting craftsmen and masters and awakening the interest of foreign tourists in the region.
An event aboard a charter cruise in Matsushima allows visitors to taste steamed Oku-Matsushima oysters at will, compare the taste of three sushi with Shiogama tuna and enjoy a Shiogama-jiru (soup local popular made from minced fish, such as cod and saury, and vegetables, such as radish, carrot and leek, as well as tofu and other ingredients). Visitors can also buy local “sake” rice wine and other products while enjoying interacting with local fishermen and attending local traditional arts performances. It is also planned to offer visitors a variety of oyster-based dishes, such as steamed oysters, oysters fried with tempura or oyster rice,
There are various other programs, such as a visit to an oyster farm and a practical discovery of oyster shelling, as well as a visit to a cannery and tasting of food products. Other programs also include a visit to the Shiogama Fish Market and the tasting of a bowl of rice garnished with “sashimi” (raw sliced fish) purchased on site, as well as a visit to a kamaboko factory including a discovery practice grilling kamaboko by hand and tasting a barbecue of seafood.
As part of the project, HANKYU TRAVEL DMC JAPAN will develop and organize events, hands-on discovery programs and travel services focused on fishery products, such as high quality bigeye tunas from Shiogama, oysters Oku-Matsushima, the Ishinomaki “saba” (mackerel) called “Kinka Saba”, the artistic sushi of “Shiogama, the city of sushi” and processed products such as delicious canned seafood and “kamaboko” “(Boiled fish paste). The company will also offer and sell tour packages to foreign travel agencies.
HANKYU TRAVEL DMC JAPAN , a division of Hankyu Travel International Co., Ltd., plans to strengthen its activities to promote the Fisherman’s Festival & Experience Program. by advertising the project at tourism fairs abroad, presenting sales pitch to foreign travel agencies and organizing familiarization trips, among other efforts.
HANKYU TRAVEL DMC JAPAN SOURCE, HANKYU INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL CO., LTD.
