An experience unique to Okunoto
The Noto Peninsula makes up the northernmost part of Ishikawa Prefecture.
Noto’s satoyama and satoumi offer beautiful, unspoilt landscapes unique to Japan,
and have been recognised as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).
At the tip of the Noto Peninsula is Okunoto, where you can find the Roadside Station Suzu Salt Farm Village.
Here you can see, eat, experience and enjoy salt produced in the only place left in Japan that uses a technique known as 'agehama'.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
This traditional method of making salt involves spraying seawater onto a sandy beach.
This is then filtered and boiled down to remove the salt.
Experiencing this precious salt making method will leave you with some truly unique memories of your travels in Japan!
What is the Okunoto Experience Village?
This roadside station complex features a museum where you can experience salt farming,
and a shop where you can purchase the salt directly from the where it’s made.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
Given that it's a road station, you can stop by while on your travels for some shopping or to take a break.
It’s also a great place to buy some souvenirs.
But what you should really make time for while you're here is the agehama-style salt making experience.
But first, what exactly is this 'agehama' method of salt making?
1. Carrying the seawater
Work starts at 5am with carrying in the seawater from the ocean.
This is done using a wooden pole placed across the shoulders with two wooden buckets attached to either end.
Each bucket holds around 36 liters of water, which means the workers carry over 70 kilos by hand.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
In the Noto Peninsula area, the ocean current is fast which helps the water stay clean, making it ideal for making salt.
The seawater is then transferred to a large tub which holds around 800 liters, and it takes about 10 journeys to fill.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
2. Spraying the seawater
Next, the seawater stored in the tub is sprayed onto the saltpan, which is essentially a sandy beach.
The saltpan is about 160 m2, and it takes around 40 minutes to spray the seawater evenly over.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
In summer, this has to be done twice.
It seems like a lot of hard work.
After this, lines are drawn in the sand using a special rake to help dry out the seawater quickly.
It takes about 6 hours to get to this point, after which the saltpan is left to dry out under the sun for another 8 hours.
3. Collecting the brine
The dried sand is collected and placed inside a wooden box which is assembled in the center of the saltpan.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
A bamboo trap and straw mat are placed at the bottom of the box.
Then, when seawater is poured over the top of the sand, it filters through to create a highly concentrated salt water solution.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
This brine is collected in another tub and boiled to create salt crystals.
4. Boiling
The brine is brought in from the saltpan and boiled down in a large 600-liter cauldron for 6 hours until the salt content reaches 24%.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
The fire is fueled mostly by timber created from forest thinning, which produces a gentle fire making is ideal for burning slowly.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
The boiled brine is left to cool for about a day and then filtered through a tub layered with bamboo charcoal,
black charcoal, and sand.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
This is then put back into the cauldron and boiled for another 16 hours, and as the concentration of salt increases, it crystallizes.
The amount of heat during this stage of the process determines the flavor and quality of the salt.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
5. Salt and bittern products
The salt is removed and left to sit for 4 days, after which it is separated into salt and bitter.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
Bittern, or 'nigari', is a liquid containing minerals such as magnesium chloride, and is used to harden soy milk into tofu.
What remains is the natural salt of Okunoto.
It takes about 6 days to get to this point, and of course, everything is done manually by hand from start to finish.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
The salt takes a lot of time and effort, but it really is delicious!
Salt making experience
It's fun just to visit the roadside station where you can buy salt as a souvenir,
but why not experience this precious salt making method for yourself?
After all, it can only be done here!
The salt making craftsmen, known as 'hamashi', will kindly take you through the process.
There are two courses available for the salt making experience.
1. Hamashi experience course (2 hours)
Description:
Experience drawing in and spraying the seawater, as well as collecting the sand and boiling down the seawater.
2. Hamashi experience 2-day course (2 hours each day)
Description:
Experience the full process, from drawing in and spraying the seawater,
to raking and collecting the sand, filtering the brine and boiling down the seawater.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
Personally, I really wanted to experience the 2-day course, but since I didn't have much time, I went for the 2-hour course.
Here's what my experience was like, and although I only experienced a small part of the salt making process, it was quite difficult!
The experience starts with drawing in the seawater using a bucket and carrying it up the beach.
The buckets get quite heavy.
You then have a go at spraying the seawater onto the sand.
This needs to be done evenly, but when you're an amateur doing it, it feels like you're just chucking big lumps of water.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
When the professionals do it, the seawater spreads out like a fan and it’s sprinkled neatly and evenly across the sand.
There's a real knack to it, and the experienced craftsman do it beautifully.
Once the seawater is dry, it's time to scrape the sand and carry it over to the wooden box.
The sand is also very heavy, and although the work looks easy, it's a real test of strength.
By actually experiencing it for myself, I was able to understand the incredible skill of the hamashi,
who have been carrying out this art of salt making for many years.
It was fun to be able to see their craftsmanship up close.
It was also really interesting to see the salt crystals appear from the extracted seawater after it had been sprinkled on the sand,
and it felt a bit like a scientific experiment.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
From this experience, I could tell that the reason the salt is so delicious is all because of the time and care that goes into making it.
Other fun things to do
In the Salt Farm Village, you can see the saltpans and tools used to make the salt.
Made using the wisdom of generations that came before, the ingenuity behind these traditional tools is clear just from looking at them.
There's also a museum where you can learn about the history of the agehama saltpans.
Inside the roadside station, there is an eating area with an ocean view where you can enjoy a light meal.
While there, you should definitely try the salt flavored ramune soda and the salted potatoes,
both made using agehama-style salt from the farm.
The combination of fluffy salted potatoes with the fizziness of the ramune soda is the best.
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
At the souvenir shop inside the roadside station, you can also find a wide variety of salt produced on the salt farm,
as well as products made using the salt.
Among all these products on offer, in the end, the salt is the best.
This rare variety of salt is carefully made by hand, and it really enhances the flavor of your ingredients.
It's a masterpiece!
Photo by Okunoto Salt Farm Village
Salt made by the hamashi masters can be purchased for 400 yen,
or there's a pack of salt with three different flavors to enjoy which can be purchased for 1200 yen.
The cost for 1 pack isn't too high, so it makes a great souvenir.
JAPAN Travel Concierge
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