Jul 15, 2012 - 1 min read

Hinase and Mushiage Oyster Markets

Oyster eaters paradise in Okayama Prefecture

By Judith Mikami

Community writer

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Oyster festival where you can pick your own (Photo: JF Mushiage)

The race to buy your container of oysters during the featival (Photo: JF Mushiage)

Open BBQ where you can cook and eat fresh oysters (Photo: JF Mushiage)

Oyster beds scattered in a bay (Photo: JF Mushiage)

An oyster bed sitting calming in a bay in the Seto Inland Sea (Photo: JF Mushiage)

Lifting oysters off the beds, getting ready to take them to a warehouse for opening and packing (Photo: JF Mushiage)

The process of opening oysters before packing into containers (Photo: JF Mushiage)

Every year from October to March Mushiage port village in Setouchi City and Hinase port town in Bizen City become the centers for oyster harvesting, markets that celebrate the bounty from the sea and with the recent win in the B grade gourmet contest by placing 9th in Japan, the oyster okinimiyake (oyster Japanese pancake) has made the amount of visitors increase ten-fold to these areas. If you are thinking where to go during autumn and are a fan of eating oysters a million different ways, then consider visiting Okayama.