Tōshijima's Sea Harvest

I took a short ferry trip from Toba and watched as wakame was unloaded from small boats. Workers on the docks immediately plunged the seaweed into vats of boiling water and it turned from black to rich green. As I walked away from the port I couldn't help but notice the net 'tables' for drying whitebait (shirasu in Japanese). My friends took me to a sizeable fish market where buyers write their bids on cards - only one chance to win the bid! Nearby an area with many fishing boats, and nets drying in the sun. For hundreds of years the people of Tōshijima have gathered food from the sea, and they are still at it!