History of Tomari Port

Everything you have to know about
the fishing port in Tomari!

１ Traditional Fishing and Fishing Portのようす【Mat.1】 Study Guide to Voyagers in Edo Period, from “Records of Japans Sea Routes”「The port of Tomari was a difficult harbor. When the sea windblows, it does not let a single ship leave the port.」

Traditional Squid Fishing【Mat.2】 (1930):「Tomari - Nakamura Miyokichis Childhood Stories」「Squid fishing boats leave the harbor in the evening and fish
until the morning in the deep waters (about 40 m), whilemoving the fishing rods up and down. As soon as I became a Abalone Fishing with Dugout Canoes around 1960
5th or 6th grader, I would join fishing tours on smaller boats. When the sea was rough, wewould either find shelter in the harbor of Shiranuka or we would even take the long 6 hourride to Hachinohe harbor.」【Mat.3】 (１９６５): Port of Tomari and Squid Fishing

Fishermen with boats waiting for the waves to calm
down

Pushing the boats into the waters

Squid fishing and unloading2 Changes in Fishing and Fishing Portsのようす
Changes Aboard the Fishing Boats「Nowadays ships are equipped withradars and lights.」「The boats as well as the harbor area lot bigger, too!」Compare the Pictures of Yakeyama Fishing Port of 1968 and 2009
１９６８（昭和４３）年の港

２００９（平成１９）年の港

Chronology of Tomari Fishing PortYear
１９６５

Main Events ◇Fisheries Association ●Development through Village/Country/Prefecture ・Other・Strong wind in combination with a storm surge washed away and/or destroyed 60 fisher boats, destroyed 51 houses, flooded
164 houses and injured 21 people. Total damage: 190 Million Yen.

１９６６

◇The Fisheries Association asks the prefectural government to transform Tomari fishing port into a well-equipped evacuation
port.

１９６７

●680 m long breakwaters (levee protection works) south of Tomari fishing port are finished and will be further extended foranother 650 m southwards.
◇Tomari Fisheries Association finished the construction of a “fresh fish handling station” toprocess and pack fish, opened a radio station to contact fishing boats directly, and finished theconstruction of a gas station.

１９６９●Yakeyama fishing port and Tomari fishing port become designated evacuation ports (type 4 fishing port).

２００２～２０１８●National and prefectural government further develop Yakeyama port. New breakwaters off the coast and otherfacilities to protect the harbor are constructed. The construction of a bridge for transporters (YakeyamaÔhashi) has been finished. The village built a new landing site, and a new cargo handling site for processing
and packing fish. A new ice production and storage site has been constructed.

3 Future of Fishery in Tomari
The influence of the port development on life in Tomari「Tomari fishing port is close to the fishing grounds, where squid,sardines and bonito are caught. Therefore, a lot of people came tolive in Tomari. We used to use the sandy Tomari fishing port, butwhen the waves were too high, the boats couldn’t leave the harbor.
Tomari Fisheries Association Mr.Yoshimi
TaneichiSince fishing boats were getting bigger, too, we moved to Yakeyama
fishing port around 1975 and since 1998 we have breakwaters andother protection sites, ship landing sites and cargo handling facilities,
as well as an ice production and storage facility. This helps us to send
fresh fish safer and quicker. On top of that, the damage from stormFishing boats in Yakeyama port

surges has been reduced. However, we’re now confronted withanother problem: the decrease in fish resources.」

Tomari Fisheries Association andCargo Handling Facility

Unloading of Fishing BoatLandscape of Yakeyama Fishing Port：At the back you can see the big bridge(Yakeyama Ohashi)