National May 6, 2021
Japanese town builds giant squid statue with COVID-19 relief funds
The town of Noto used ¥25 million of a government grant to part-fund the ¥30 million, nine-meter-long statue, news reports said.
Business Jul 27, 2020
Over 800 Chinese vessels found fishing in North Korean waters last year
The study claims the vessels pose a huge challenge for squid stock management, with reported catches plummeting in Japanese and South Korean waters.
National Oct 31, 2019
Dwindling catches and soaring prices spell trouble for Hokkaido's 'squid town'
As wholesale prices skyrocket for Pacific flying squid amid a record low catch in Japan, processing companies in the "squid town" of Hakodate, Hokkaido, are scrambling to stay afloat. The squid shortage, caused by fluctuations in ocean temperatures, years of overfishing and lenient regulations, has ...
Business Jan 15, 2019
With the country's catch of Pacific flying squid continuing to reach record lows, wholesale prices for the seafood have more than doubled for companies that process it into delicacies such as shiokara and what are normally inexpensive dried squid snacks. Not only has the scarcity ...
National Nov 2, 2018
Japanese towns that thrive on once-abundant squid suffer as numbers decline at alarming rate
by Mari Saito
Takashi Odajima picked up a cracked and faded photograph and dusted it off with his sleeve. He smiled a little sadly at the image from long ago, back when he was a baby boy. In the photo, he sits on his uncle's lap as his ...
Food & Drink Oct 7, 2017
Hokkaido's Hakodate is heaven for gourmands of all stripes
by Davey Young
Hakodate occupies a unique place on the Japanese landscape, both literally and gastronomically speaking. Facing the Tsugaru Strait from its position on the southern shores of Hokkaido's Oshima Peninsula, the city grew from a small Ainu fishing village to become, in 1854, Japan's first port ...
National Jan 12, 2016
Kagoshima artist paints squid and eats them, too
by Saki Tokunaga
Yuka Miyauchi is a painter, but she's not interested in landscapes. Her art is all about squid. She uses squid ink in her work, she exhibits regularly and evangelizes about the animals' beauty. And she adores them served up on a plate. Miyauchi, a 30-year-old native ...
National Jan 8, 2015
A dead giant squid is on display at a zoo in Hokkaido, where visitors are invited both to ogle the ugly mass and to touch it. The animal is drawing crowds at Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo, where it forms part of a deep-sea exhibition that ...