A Journey to Taste Toyama’s Seafood Bounty: Crab, Oysters, Cod, and Firefly Squid

The Niikawa area in eastern Toyama Prefecture is packed with seafood that is in season during the cold season, from autumn to spring, especially in winter, such as red snow crab, oysters, and cod. Spring is also the best season to enjoy the mysterious firefly squid. We will introduce you to the Niikawa area, which is a great time to visit during this season, focusing on winter gourmet information.

• Table of Contents
• 1. Uozu and Kurobe - A treasure trove of the Queen of Toyama Bay, the Red Snow Crab
• 2. Nyuzen - Taste fresh oysters in Nyuzen, the "holy land of oysters"
• 3. Asahi - Taste the Jade Coast's famous local dish, "Tarajiru"
• 4. Namerikawa- Enjoy Firefly Squid with Your Eyes and Taste
• summary

1. Uozu and Kurobe - A treasure trove of the Queen of Toyama Bay, the Red Snow Crab

When it comes to crab in Toyama Prefecture, red snow crab is the undisputed star. The fishing season opens on September 1—earlier than snow crab—and continues until around May. Even before boiling, the shell and legs are naturally red. Among Toyama’s catch, crabs that meet strict standards for weight and shell size are branded as “Koshi no Aka Crab” and sold with official tags.

Uozu City, the birthplace of crab pot fishing, boasts the highest catch volume in the prefecture, while neighboring Kurobe City is also known as a major production area. With depths exceeding 1,200 meters, Toyama Bay is one of Japan’s deepest bays and is often called a ‘natural fish tank.’ The short distance between fishing ports and fishing grounds ensures outstanding freshness, resulting in sweet, firm meat and rich crab miso.

Uozu and Kurobe are the top two areas in Japan for crab catch volume, and there are plenty of restaurants and inns where you can enjoy the freshest crab. At the inns in Unazuki Onsen, Kurobe City, we recommend enjoying a full course meal of crab sashimi, crab hotpot, boiled crab, and more while soaking in the hot springs. This is a spot you'll want to visit during the peak season for red snow crab, also known as the "Queen of Toyama Bay."

Sea Station Mirage

If you want to casually enjoy red snow crab, we recommend Uozu's Sea Station Mirage . The on-site restaurant , Seafood Restaurant Kikenjo , prides itself on its dishes made with seafood caught at Uozu Fishing Port. The popular crab bowl is topped with salt-boiled red snow crab claws and meat, and crab miso, allowing you to fully enjoy the deliciousness of red snow crab.

There is also a fishmonger inside the building, where you can buy freshly caught seafood. During the crab fishing season, the "Uozu Crab Riot" event is held irregularly, where whole steamed red snow crabs are offered at a special price. The famous "hamayaki" (seafood grilling) is held every weekend, and the " Uozu Morning Market " is held on the fourth Sunday of every month , where seafood sales and morning market set meals are very popular. The crab season is especially lively, and you can enjoy a crab-filled trip by looking, eating, and buying.

Sea Station Mirage

2500-2 Muraki Sadabowari , Uozu City, Toyama Prefecture

TEL 0765-24-4301 ( Uozu Seaside Plaza)

[Business hours] 9:00-18:00 *Closing times may change during the winter

Closed: Second Wednesday of every month (open every day in May, August, and December, beach barbecue is closed from December to February)

http://www.shinkirou.jp/facilities_03.cgi

Uozu Morning Market

Held on the fourth Sunday of every month at the event space of Roadside Station Mirage

TEL 0765-22-1200 (Uozu Morning Market Executive Committee)

https://uozu-kanko.jp/library/uozu-asaichi/

Fish Station Fabric

Located next to Kurobe Fishing Port, "Uo no Eki Iku" is a facility directly operated by the Kurobe Fisheries Cooperative. At the restaurant " Koukaito" in the "Dekitatekan " you can enjoy sashimi and seafood bowls made with the freshest seafood. From autumn to spring, you can enjoy "Kani-don" (crab bowl) topped with plenty of shredded red snow crab. The variety of rice bowl menus come with a set of red snow crab miso soup. The red snow crab, with its wide shell and ample meat, is marked with a unique tag unique to Iku that indicates it is a top-quality product.

Fish Station Fabric

265, Kurobe City, Toyama Prefecture Naka Ward

TEL 765-57-0192 (Fish Station "Ichiji" Freshly Pickled Fish)

[Business hours] Toretatekan 9:00-16:00

Dekitatekan Navigation Light 11:00-15:00, Banka (reservation required) 17:00-22:00

[Closed] Wednesdays and January 1st

[Fee] Free admission

Morning market at Ikuji Fish Station

Held at Uo no Eki Ikuji on the first Sunday of every month from April to November

Other places where you can enjoy red snow crab

For information on restaurants and inns where you can enjoy red snow crab, click here

2. Nyuzen - Taste fresh oysters in Nyuzen, the "holy land of oysters"

Nyuzen Town is a thriving area for oyster cultivation and purification, utilizing the nutrient- Toyotomi deep seawater of Toyama Bay . Seasonal oysters are collected from all over the country, from Hokkaido and Sanriku in the north to Hiroshima and Kyushu in the south. Nyuzen Town's deep seawater, which is pumped from a depth of over 400 meters, is characterized by its purity (clean), low-temperature stability (always cold), and eutrophic (Toyotomi in minerals), and is used to cultivate and purify oysters.

Nyuzen’s oyster purification facilities are among Japan’s leading shipping centers for shell oysters, handling more than five million oysters annually from across the nation. It performs purification treatment by immersing them in deep sea water for 48 hours.

Oyster specialty restaurant "Nyuzen Oyster Star"

Nyuzen Town , home to a wealth of delicious oysters, is lined with numerous restaurants where you can eat seasonal oysters. Among them , Nyuzen Oyster Star, a restaurant located within the Nyuzen Deep Sea Water Park , offers fresh oysters purified with deep sea water, served raw, steamed, or grilled. You can also enjoy guided experience plans that combine the experience with a tour of the adjacent Nyuzen Deep Sea Water Park.

At Nyuzen Oyster Star, all tables are equipped with a grill and customers can cook their own oysters. The restaurant has a tank filled with deep sea water, and the oysters are taken out of the tank after an order is placed, ensuring the freshest oysters served.

Enjoy hot, plump grilled oysters grilled on a grill right in front of you!

I was very satisfied with the set menu, which also came with fried oysters and rice.

Nyuzen Oyster Star

251-1 Shimoiino, Nyuzen-machi, Nyuzen -gun, Toyama Toyama Prefecture, inside the Deep Sea Water Park

TEL 0765-76-0065

[Business hours] Weekdays 11:00-17:00 (Last orders 16:00), Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays 10:00-20:00 (Last orders 19:00)

[Closed] Open all year round (except for New Year's holidays)

https://www.kakinohoshi.com/nyuzen/restaurant.php

Nyuzen Deep Sea Water Park

251-1 Toyama Prefecture, Nyuzen-machi, Nyuzen-gun, Toyama Prefecture

TEL 0765-76-9100

[Open]9:00-17:00

Closed: Mondays (or the following day if Monday is a national holiday), New Year's holidays (December 29th to January 3rd)

[Fee] Free admission

https://www.nyuzen-kanko.jp/asobu_manabu/585

Guided experience plan

This is a guided plan that includes a meal at Nyuzen Deep Sea Water Park and Nyuzen Oyster Star, allowing you to enjoy seasonal oysters packed with the bounty of the sea.

Reservations and details can be found here

3. Asahi - Taste the Jade Coast's famous local dish, "Tarajiru"

Along the Jade Coast of Toyama Prefecture , cod soup, a local dish made with walleye pollock, has long been a favorite. It's an incredibly simple broth, simmering chunks of walleye pollock with only burdock, green onions, and miso , but the rich flavor oozes out of the guts and bone marrow, creating a deeply satisfying taste. While cod dishes are often associated with winter, they were originally enjoyed in the summer in this region. Fishermen, who made a living by farming and fishing, would gather around a large pot of cod soup on the beach for lunch with their families and helpers. It eventually became popular as a destination for beachgoers, and now the area is known as the " Tara Soup Highway ," with restaurants and guesthouses lined up along National Route 8. Today, it can be enjoyed year-round, and each restaurant offers its own unique blend of miso and simmering technique, adding to the enjoyment.

Drive-in Kanamori

As you drive along National Route 8, you'll come across "Drive-In Kanamori" with a sign advertising cod soup. Established 50 years ago, the restaurant has a spacious parking lot and interior, with seating for 80 people, including tables and tatami rooms. Their signature "cod soup" has a light, refreshing flavor, so you won't tire of it even if you eat a whole bowl full of it. They also offer a Toyotomi of set meals and a la carte dishes, making this restaurant popular with both locals and tourists. "Cod Soup Rice," which comes with piping hot cod soup, rice, and a side dish, costs 1,000 yen.

Drive-in Kanamori

746-1 Sakai, Asahi Asahi Town , Shimoniikawa-gun , Toyama Prefecture Prefecture

TEL 0765-83-1525

[Business hours] 9:30-18:30 (last orders 18:00)

Closed: Mondays

https://www.asahi-tabi.com/asahimachi/243

Drive-in Kinkai

This restaurant serves its specialty cod soup, seafood delivered directly from fishermen, and other seasonal dishes. The first floor is a drive-in popular with locals and long-distance drivers, while the second floor is a relaxing inn. The popular "Cod Soup Set Meal" can be enjoyed for 1,500 yen. While the drive-in has a large parking lot, it is also close to Miyazaki Station and Jade Coast, making it a convenient location for tourists and those traveling by train.

Drive-in Kinkai

25-1 Sakai, Asahi Asahi Town , Shimoniikawa-gun , Toyama Prefecture Prefecture

TEL 0765-83-1870

[Business hours] Weekdays 10:00-21:00 (LO 20:30)

Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays: 10:00-14:00, 17:30-21:00 (last order 20:30)

[Closed] Thursdays

https://www.asahi-tabi.com/asahimachi/352

Other places where you can enjoy cod soup

For information on restaurants along the "Tarajiru" road, click here

4. Namerikawa- Enjoy Firefly Squid with Your Eyes and Taste

Speaking of spring delicacies in Toyama Bay, there's the firefly squid, for which fishing is permitted from March 1st. Toyama Bay is known as one of the Toyama's leading fishing grounds for firefly squid, and firefly squid, along with yellowtail and crab, are one of Toyama's signature seafood products. Firefly squid are small squids that emit a mysterious bluish-white light, and much about their ecology remains shrouded in mystery.

In Namekawa, famous for its firefly squid fishing, restaurants offer firefly squid dishes prepared in various ways. Visitors can also experience sea tours that allow viewing live firefly squid from the ocean surface, offering a glimpse into their mysterious ecology.

Firefly squid sea tour

The Firefly Squid Sea Sightseeing tour is only available from April 1st to early May . The tour departs Namerikawa Fishing Port before dawn and you can watch the firefly squid fishing using fixed nets, a method unique to Toyama Prefecture, from a sightseeing boat. You can enjoy a rare experience that you wouldn't normally be able to see, such as the mysterious, sparkling light of the firefly squid and the fishermen fishing.

Firefly squid sea tour

[Period] April 1st (Tuesday) to May 6th (substitute holiday)

[Meeting place] Firefly Squid Museum Shop

Meet at 2:00-2:15am (boarding at 2:30am)

[Fee] 8,000 yen for adults, 4,000 yen for elementary and junior high school students (preschool children not allowed on board)

[Reservations] Reservations must be made at designated inns and hotels or via the online form.

https://hotaruikamuseum.com/tour/guide

Firefly Squid Museum

The Firefly Squid Museum is a facility where you can learn about the ecology of firefly squid and the mysteries of Toyama Bay, where they live, through explanations using videos and LED lights, as well as panels and computer graphics. Firefly squid sea tours are only available seasonally, and boat trips are canceled if the weather is bad, but here you can enjoy the firefly squid glow show any time of the year (except during the firefly squid season from March 20th to May 31st, a glow show of bioluminescent plankton is held).

Firefly Squid Museum

410 Nakagawara , Namerikawa City, Toyama Prefecture

TEL 076-476-9300 (Wave Namerikawa)

[Business hours] 9:00-17:00 (entry until 16:30)

Closed: Tuesdays from June 1st to March 19th (the following day if a public holiday falls on a Tuesday), New Year's holidays, and three days from the last Monday of January

[Fee] March 20th - May 31st: Adults 820 yen, Children 410 yen

June 1st - March 19th of the following year: Adults 620 yen, Children 310 yen

https://hotaruikamuseum.com/museum

Panorama Restaurant Kosai

At Panorama Restaurant Kosai, located on the second floor of the Firefly Squid Museum, you can enjoy fresh firefly squid caught at the nearby Namerikawa Port. Using "proton freezing," a freezing technique that maintains the freshness, texture, and flavor, the restaurant serves firefly squid dishes all year round. From inside the glass-walled restaurant, you can see the spectacular view of Toyama Bay and the fixed fishing nets.

Panorama Restaurant Kosai

410 Nakagawara, Namerikawa City, Toyama Prefecture, Firefly Squid Museum, 2nd floor

TEL 076-476-1370

[Business hours] 11:00-18:00 (last orders 17:30) *Subject to change

[Closed] Every Tuesday from June 1st to March 19th (the following day if Tuesday is a public holiday), New Year's holidays, and three days from the last Monday of January

Other places to eat firefly squid

For information on restaurants where you can enjoy firefly squid, click here

summary

What did you think? Why not plan a trip to enjoy crab, oysters, cod, and firefly squid, which are in season from winter to spring? Enjoy the delicious cuisine that can only be enjoyed in the cold season, combined with the beautiful snowy scenery and hot springs.