![](https://www.kcaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Otaru_auction-1-scaled.jpg?x32562)
KCAW’s Katherine Rose continues her assignment in Japan this week, where she’s looking into the industry and culture of herring. Today, Rose tracks the herring to an early-morning wholesale auction in the city of Otaru, where, in a lightning-fast process that lasts under four minutes, buyers stake their claim to thousands of boxes of hatchery-produced herring – all of which will be processed and retailed in Japan.
Rose’s trip is a project of KCAW and the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism.