July 21, 2013 — My journey to the Shakotan Peninsula, a scenic corner of Hokkaido known for its sea urchin, salmon, herring and other fish, actually began in New York more than 30 years ago when my father took me for sushi at a Japanese restaurant near his office in Lower Manhattan.
Our occasional visits were an exotic treat for a suburban kid raised on steak and pasta. When I was in my teens, my father decided to expand my horizons and ordered uni, or sea urchin. To his surprise, I loved its sublime taste and gelatinous texture.
Uni became my litmus test for sushi fans. In college, I dared friends to try it. After graduation, I moved to Japan and sought it out. When I worked in the Tokyo bureau of The New York Times a decade ago, I often walked across the street to Tsukiji Fish Market, the world’s largest wholesale fish market, to dine on sushi — and, especially, uni.
On our annual visits to Japan since then, my wife and I stay near the market so we can take in the fabulous seafood. A few years ago when we visited the seaside town of Shimoda, we met a woman on the beach with a bucket of uni. She generously cut two open so we could taste the sweet roe inside.
As good as it was, I knew that the freshest uni was in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands. So in June, we took a 90-minute flight from Tokyo to Sapporo to visit the source.
Our timing was good. While the rest of Japan was sweltering and wet, Hokkaido was bathed by soft breezes and sunshine. Everything was in bloom, including the ubiquitous lavender whose fragrance reminds visitors how far they are from gritty Tokyo.
Mid-June was also the start of uni fishing season on the Shakotan Peninsula, two hours west of Sapporo, Hokkaido’s capital and largest city. No trains run as far as the town of Shakotan, so we rented a car and drove past Sapporo’s sprawl until we hit a coastal road that bordered Ishikari Bay. Tokyo’s bustle and concrete seemed a world away.