A fisherman in his domain. Sand, nets and (of course) the sea...
Shirou Yajima has been fishing for over 70 years now. When he started helping his father, he was still in elementary school. They didn't use motors in those days: they had to row everywhere in their heavy wooden boats.
He knows where all the fish are — but there used to be so many more in the old days. They were bigger too...
He has plenty of local lore to share, and everyone's keen to hear what he has to say. Hayama has a very different marine ecology from the rest of Sagami Bay. It's all to do with the rocks and the tides.
Yajima is 80 now — and he says he's never been sick once in his life. Not even a cold.
He's caught some flatfish for us. Some beautiful shita-birame sole.
Chef Kurumi Arimoto is cooking for us today...
She just cleans them and puts them whole into a big well-oiled pan, with a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper. She's prepared the onions oven-roasted in their skins ahead of time.
And, just before the end of cooking, in go a heap of tomatoes…
So good!
This was all part of a Kinfolk gathering in Hayama, at Griot, the catering space plus restaurant — currently on year-long sabbatical till the end of this month — operated by Arimoto-san.
More photos to follow...
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