A Legacy of Adventure at Sea in Itoman

Travelers come to Okinawa to unplug and refresh, to dip their toes in the sand or their fins in the water. Yet the most memorable holidays are those intermingled with locals, learning their stories and getting a glimpse inside their lives and the local culture. A day in Itoman offers an unforgettable opportunity to genuinely see and feel the past and present culture of this local fishing community.

Most visitors to Okinawa head north as soon as they land in Naha. Yet, if you swim against the tourist tide, and venture south of the airport you’ll find a town with a fascinating maritime history and a state-of-the-art fish market where you can get a much closer look at the fishing culture of Okinawa. Itoman is home to the Great Tug-of-War as well as the Itoman Hare, one of Okinawa’s biggest hari (dragon boat) races, which attracts more than 30,000 spectators as well participants competing in various races.

There are a number of significant historical attractions around Itoman—it was the final front of the Battle of Okinawa in World War II and home to Gushikawa Castle. Fishing, however, is the heart and soul of this port town since the days of the Ryukyu Kingdom and is still a major industry today.

The fishermen of Itoman have a reputation that literally spans oceans. While they fish their waters throughout the Ryukyu archipelago, from the Amami Islands to the Yaeyama Islands, they are also known to stray from Kyushu and Shikoku all the way to Mie, Shizuoka and the Izu Islands. And long before diesel engines powered fishing fleets, these legendary fishermen set sail from their port on the southern tip of Okinawa Island off as far as the Indian Ocean, Papua New Guinea and Australia.

All this fishing activity culminates early each morning at the Imaiyu Fish Market in Itoman. If you want to genuinely appreciate what makes these fishermen tick, join an exclusive tour of this newly-renovated facility where you get incredible access to the market, nearly rubbing shoulders with fishermen and buyers before the auction starts. Having been to the incredibly crowded (and touristy) Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, this was by far a more intimate and enjoyable experience.

From the main floor of this incredibly clean space, you can wander the aisles of yellow fin, big eye and blue fin tuna as well as marlin, wahoo and mahi mahi. The facility manager proudly explained the processes in which at no time do the fish touch the ground. The area is meticulously cleaned with three kinds of water depending on the process. We learned that a nerve cut is made near the nose of the tuna after they are caught to stop the fish from struggling (which sends acid into the meat and affects the taste). Each fish has a tag that shows where the fish is caught, the boat name and even the method with which it was caught. The catch is published the night before on the fish market website to attract bidders.

We stepped out of the way as the auction started on the far end of the facility where smaller inshore fish and shell fish were being bought and sold. Next, the main event as buyers examined massive tuna, before bidding for their stores and restaurants around Japan.
As sun streaks began to fill the sky we jumped into an electric shuttle for a drive by the picturesque port, and streets that used to be house-lined canals, to Hakugindo, a place of worship where locals pray for good fortune before heading out to sea. Here, a natural stalagmite is enshrined as a local deity. We too asked for favor before setting out on one of Itoman’s traditional sabani boats.

The name “sabani” comes from “saba,” a local term for shark back when shark fins were a highly sought after commodity traded with China. The umininchu (men of the sea) of Itoman were solely responsible for shark fishing, yet after the shark trade dried up during the Sino-Japanese war, the term for the boats remained. Today locals tend to call any small wooden boat sabani.

While traditional sabani fishing ended in the 20th century, a sabani sailing renaissance began at the turn of this century. The Sabani Sail & Paddle Race between Zamami Island and Naha began in 2000 and the nostalgia of these traditional boats has created opportunities to join tours and experience the thrill of sailing them while gaining an appreciation into the traditional shipbuilding techniques.

When we arrived at the sabani shipyard a spry, 73-year-old craftsmen let us into the shop where he was currently building a boat. We were able to see firsthand the traditional tools, and techniques, including the dovetail key joints used instead of nails. He explained how the size of the boats is determined by the size of a single piece of timber and the only wood he uses is Obi cedar from Miyazaki Prefecture due to its flexibility, durability and buoyancy. Shark oil is sometimes used as a lacquer on the exterior of these boats that typically range in length from 6 to 8 meters.

After gearing up and a quick tutorial, we grabbed the traditional wooden oars and paddled out. The typical sabani boat has a single mast that is unfurled in the open sea. Cruising above the clear waters within the outer reef we could see a mixture of colorful coral and some bleached out areas due to the warm sea temperature. Typhoons can cause damage but they also are important for cooling the waters and carrying nutrients to the coral reefs, helping them stay healthy and regenerate.

Thankfully it was time raise the sail and let the wind do the work. These wooden boats won’t sink but they will tip and they are actually built so they can be fully submerged and resurfaced—a technique traditionally used when catching a large tuna, marlin or shark to more easily get it in the boat. We did a quick circumnavigation of a small island, waving to some fisherman on the shore before cruising up to a crescent beach where we’d have lunch at a local family-run umi-budou farm.

Umi-budou (literally sea grapes) are a local delicacy mainly grown in Okinawa’s temperate waters. We harvested our own umi-budou from the indoor farm and then relaxed out on the deck for lunch while enjoying the view of the beach. This friendly family have created a bit of an oasis here, with a campground and bbq space. Their pride in the umi-budou they grow is clear and after rinsing our “catch” in water, we followed their instructions laying it over steaming rice with a raw egg and their secret sauce mixed in. We were then served a dessert you won’t find anywhere else in the world—umi-budou ice cream (which is surprisingly good!).
Adventure travel means you are sometimes at the mercy of nature, and sailing definitely qualifies. We got a taste of how quickly the weather can turn on the way back as blue skies turned gray and calm waters were no longer calm. It was a safe, but exciting sail back as we got to experience the stability (or lack) of sabani boats as our captain expertly tacked and jibbed our way back to port.

When you join a sabani tour, wear clothes that you don’t mind getting wet, because there is a good chance you will. If you are prone to seasickness it’s always a good idea to take medicine before your tour, although it wasn’t bad even in stormy seas. Sabani sailing feels like the perfect adventure travel tour. It’s eco-conscious and a human and nature powered activity that is a quintessential Okinawan experience.

Relax and unwind on your Okinawa holiday, but be sure to take a day and look outside the resort so you don’t miss out on authentic local experiences like these in Itoman.
To find out more about booking an exclusive fishmarket and sabani sailing tour in Itoman, contact Okinawa JTB by e-mail at_oki@okw.jtb.jp.