To French, Japanese towns, the world is their oyster

Cancale, a fishing village in Brittany, a northwestern region of France, has for centuries been known for its high-quality oysters. King Louis XIV, who reigned from the late 17th to early 18th centuries, is said to have had the region's delicacy delivered to the Palace of Versailles on the outskirts of Paris.

In recent years, roughly 90 percent of the oysters farmed in this village facing the Bay of Mont Saint Michel are the offspring of Japanese oysters from Tohoku's Sanriku region. The remainder — flat oysters native to Europe — are called Belons.

Unlike in Japan, where oysters are fried or cooked in hot pots, the French typically eat theirs raw with a dash of lemon juice.