[Japan tour 2026] Karoichi ~ a seafood market in Karo Port

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Date: 17th January 2026 (Wednesday)

After ticking off the Tottori Sand Dunes, we headed over to AEON Mall Tottori Kita (イオンモール鳥取北) for a quick look around. Quite a few of my friends enjoy visiting AEON Malls in Japan, and to be honest, I quite like them too. AEON Mall is a shopping mall operated by AEON, which sits somewhere in the mid-range department store category. Besides AEON's own shops, there are plenty of chain stores and mid-to-large retailers inside. In one reasonably sized place, you can find most of what you want to shop or browse, which makes it very convenient. We hadn't planned to visit an AEON Mall on this trip, but since we had some time after the sand dunes and were passing by anyway, we decided to drop in. 　 After that, we headed to Tottori Port Karoichi Fish Market (鳥取港海鮮市場かろいち), a fish market attached to Tottori Port. The port is located near Tottori Airport and the estuary of the River Sendai, about 10-15 minute drive from central Tottori or the sand dunes, and less than 5 minutes from AEON Mall Tottori Kita. The waters around the port site where the warm Tsushima current meets colder currents, so the variety of seafood is excellent. Local specialities include snow crab, white squid, and rock oysters. 　 ▲ Tottori Karo Minato Oasis 　 Tottori Port was historically known as Karo Port. In 1653, IKEDA Mitsunaka (池田 光仲), the first lord of the Tottori Domain, established an official maritime office here. During the Sengoku period, the Môri clan (毛利氏) also made use of Karo Port when expanding into Inaba (now Tottori). Later, when TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉), under the orders of ODA Nobunaga (織田 信長), lauched campaigns against MÔRI Terumoto (毛利 輝元), the port again served as an important base. 　 Thanks to its natural geographical advantages, the area had already become a key fishing village during the Edo period, mainly focused on coastal fishing and supplying seafood for the Tottori region. After WWII, as Japan's fishing industry modernised, Karo evolved from a 'fishing village' into a proper 'fishing port', which cold storage, auctions, and logistics facilities introduced. 　 Today, Tottori Port serves both as a commercial port and a fishing port. The commercial side, known as Sendai area, handles freight such as construction materials and fuel, with facilities like freight terminals, warehouses, and cranes. It also accommodates cruise ships. Although there are no regular cruise routes and none use Tottori as a home port, some seasonal or occasional cruise ships do call here. While not particularly large, it remains an important gateway in Tottori Prefecture's supply chain. 　 ▲ Public plaza 　 The fishing port side is known as the Karo area. In 2003, Karoichi Market was established, transforming the port from a wholesale-focused operation into a direct-sales market where visitors can experience fishing port culture. In 2004, it was registered as a 'Minato Oasis' (みなとオアシス) – Tottori Karo Minato Oasis (鳥取・賀露みなとオアシス). This is a designation by Japan's Minstry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to integrate tourism, culture, commerce, and regional revitalisation around ports. Besides seafood, you can also find local produce, souvenirs, and crafts. It's basically the port version of a Michinoeki (道の駅, roadside station). 　 As a 'Minato Oasis', it's meant not only to attract visitors but also to serve as a leisure space for locals, so there is a large open plaza and pedestrian walkways outside. The fish market itself is not very big, with just four seafood stalls, one souvenir shop, one shop selling tofu and fish products, three dining restaurants, and one light-meal restaurant (noodle soup). Compared with places like Wakayama's Kuroshio Market (黒潮市場), Shimonoseki's Karato Market (唐戸市場), or Kanazawa's Ômichô Market (近江町市場), it is much smaller. The advantage, however, is that the seafood is extremely fresh – all landed at Tottori Port on the same day. 　 ▲ Sunaba Coffee – a local Tottori coffee chain. 'Sunaba' means 'sandpit' in Japanese, and also sounds a bit like 'Starbucks' in Japanese! 　 ▲ Inside the fish market (JF Tottori Fisheries Cooperative stall) 　 ▲ Besides seafood, there are also local souvenirs – JF Umi no Omiyage 　 The scale of Toyosu Market in Tokyo is, of course, far larger. However, Tokyo itself produces very little seafood, with most of it coming from Hokkaidô, followed by the San'in region. In terms of size, there's no comparison, but in terms of freshness, Karoichi probably has the edge. 　 The market offers seasonal seafood all year round. In winter now (December to February), snow crab is in season, along with mosa ebi (a type of prawn) and hirame (a type of flatfish). Other seasonal highlights include hatahata (sandfish),  horse mackerel, and turban shells in spring (March to May); white squid, rock oysters, and tuna in summer (June to August); and babachan (a type of eelpout), scomber (mackerel), and blackthroat seaperch in autumn (September to November). 　 ▲ We chose Nakamura store 　 ▲ Seating available inside the stall 　 ▲ Snow crab and prawns mosa ebi 　 In the end, we picked Nakamura store. We bought one snow crab and a portion of prawn mosa ebi, costing JP¥15,100 in total. Each of the four stalls in the market has its own seating area, so you can eat straight away after buying. Since Todd isn't that keen on crab, we chose a smaller one. Even so, the meat was nicely filled. The best part was the brown meat inside the shell – rich, creamy, and full of umami. It's honestly hard to describe in words. 　 That said, the mosa ebi was even more worth trying. It's not something you hear about often. That's because it turns black and deteriorates very quickly once out of the water, making it difficult to transport over long distances or store frozen. As a result, you can basically only eat in the San'in region. The name 'mosa' (猛者) implies toughness, referring to its hard shell with sharp edges. It's a deep-sea prawn, living at depths of around 200-500 metres in the Sea of Japan. The texture is firm and springy, with a strong, rich flavour. Although it look like a prawn, the taste is easily on par with spiny lobster. 　 ▲ Kaiyôtei 　 ▲ Inside Kaiyôtei 　 ▲ Special seafood rice bowl 　 ▲ White squid tentacle tempura 　 One crab and a few prawns obviously weren't enough, so Todd suggested going to one of the market restaurants for a seafood rice bowl. Besides the three eateries inside the market hall, there are also two outside – Kaiyôtei (海陽亭) and Kaisenmatsuri Hôenya (海鮮祭ホーエンヤ, the name 'Hôenya' likely comes from a festival at Karo Jinja). In general, the menus are quite similar, mainly centred around seafood rice bowls. The only difference was that Kaiyôtei focuses on white squid sashimi, so we chose it, but... 　 The seating at Kaiyôtei is arranged around a squid tank, and ordering is done via a tablet computer. Perhaps we arrived a bit too late – when we openeded the menu on the tablet, all the squid sashimi had already sold out! It felt a bit like we'd been lured in for nothing (╥﹏╥). In the end, Todd and I both ordered the Special Seafood Rice Bowl (JP¥2,860), plus one portion of white squid tentacle tempura (白イカ下足天). It tasted good, but wasn't particularly memorable. 　 ▲ I bought some huge dried shittake mushrooms! 　 ▲ Tottori Karo Crab Aquarium 　 After lunch, we visited the nearby farmers' market – Wattaina Shokunomiyako Tottori (わったいな 食のみやこ 鳥取). (The name roughly means 'Great! The Capital of Dining Tottori' in local dialect.) It's operated by the JA Group Tottori (Agricultural Cooperatives) and specialises in local produce. The main items are fruit and vegetables, and of course the famous Tottori Nijisseiki (green pears). We weren't going to buy vegetables, and fruit was already provided daily at our accommodation, so we ended up browsing the dried goods section> I bought some dried shiitake mushrooms and kombu. The mushrooms were huge – even in Hong Kong they're hard to find at that size. 　 As part of the 'Minato Oasis', there is also a small museum nearby – the Tottori Karo Crab Aquarium (とっとり賀露かにっこ館), which is more aimed at children and focuses on crabs. 　 After that, we officially left Tottori City and set off for our next stop – Kurayoshi (倉吉).

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