A 4am start, a morning on the water, and the last live-squid set at lunch.
The harbour beside our lunch stop on the Echizen coast.
01 / On the water first
Lunch after the fishing trip.
I was up at 4am on 11 June for a fishing trip with Takayuki Shibata, Takuya Yamamoto and Makoto Kurosaki. After the morning on the water, we stopped for lunch at 海の幸 食処 えちぜん, overlooking the harbour.
The water was extremely calm that morning. I photographed the boat leaving the harbour, the rocky coast and the catch before we went ashore for lunch.
Up at 4am, then on the road for our fishing trip.At the boat before heading out. Top left: Takayuki Shibata. Top right: Makoto Kurosaki. In front: Takuya Yamamoto.
Leaving the harbour.The rocky coast seen from the boat. The water was extremely calm that morning.
02 / Back ashore
A table looking onto the port.
I’d heard this was a well-known local seafood stop that people travelled a long way to visit. Outside, I saw cars with number plates from all over Japan. Inside were the tanks, wooden fittings and a view straight out over the harbour.
Across the water are wooded hills and a small shrine, with steps down towards the harbour. The still photographs and the video show that same view from the restaurant.
Behind Nao Yamamoto, the wall was lined with signed boards. They gave me the impression that plenty of well-known visitors had come here for a bowl too.
The restaurant’s tanks. These are usually full of another Echizen speciality: crab.Looking out across the quay and the wooded hillside.
From the lunch table to the harbour, 16 seconds · Original audio retained; starts muted. Use the sound control to listen.Nao Yamamoto at the table, with signed boards lining the wall behind him.
03 / What came to the table
The squid and the whole tray.
The live-squid set was the dish people came for, and there were very few available. I ordered one and was told it was the last of the day. The people at the next table couldn’t get it.
The squid was still twitching when it arrived. I filmed it as well as taking photographs of the translucent slices and the whole tray: rice topped with strips of seaweed, fried pieces and the small side dishes.
The squid moving at the table, 11.4 seconds. Original audio retained; starts muted.
The full lunch tray, with squid, rice, fried pieces and small dishes.
A closer view of the squid presentation.The harbour view alongside the meal photographs.The harbour in ink. An illustration, alongside the photograph.
04 / Two meals, one fishing day
Lunch here; dinner at Midoriya.
Later that day, we had dinner at Midoriya in Echizen city, and some of our catch was served as part of that meal. That is a separate stop from this lunch by the harbour.
The photographs make a useful record of both places. This one is the coastal lunch, with the fishing boats just outside the window.
