Katsuura Morning Market

The Katsuura morning market, which has continued for over 400 years, is one of the three major morning markets in Japan with about 80 venders selling diverse products, such as seasonal vegetables, fresh fish, dried fish, seeds and seedlings, and other goods. The morning market is open on Shimohoncho Asaichi St. from the 1st to the 15th every month, and on Nakahoncho Asaichi St. from the 16th to the end of the month, from 6 am till around 11 am.

Katsuura boasting no less than nine active fishing ports and bringing in the prefecture’s second largest annual catch, it is no surprise that fish and seafood make a strong showing at the market. While the town’s fish market handles seriously weighty tuna and the like for commercial buyers, the morning market offers more manageably-sized specimens, such as sardines and yellowtail, caught in the same nearby Pacific waters. Visitors not planning on doing any cooking during their vacation need not go without: many varieties of dried fish are also sold, along with dried squid and octopus.