Gillnet fishermen in the Takashima fishing community weigh the herring they caught earlier this morning. Herring fishing has improved for the last 20 years in Western Hokkaido, after being “commercially extinct” in Japan for the latter half of the 20th century. Some fishermen attribute the return of the herring, in part, to a hatchery program introduced by the Japanese government in the 1990s.

KCAW’s Katherine Rose continues her assignment in Japan this week, where she’s looking into the industry and culture of herring. Today, Rose visits Takashima Fishing Village in the city of Otaru and learns about one family’s gillnetting operation. 

Rose will be sharing more stories from her travels over the next week. Her trip is a project of KCAW and the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism.