The Health Beneﬁts of Sardines
Sardines contain a wealth of essential fatty acids, such as Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) andDocosahexaenoic Acid (DHA).
EPA and DHA, which are said to function to make the ﬂow of blood smooth, constitute nutrients that areexpected to work to prevent vascular disorders such as arteriosclerosis and blood clotting.
EPA also works to reduce neutral fats.
DHA also works to enhance brain and nervous system functions.
Sardines contain rich amounts of calcium for building healthy bones and Vitamin D for assisting with theabsorption of calcium. (Reference Materials: “Japanese Food Standard Ingredient Table,” MEXT)

Sardine Dishes

Stewed in tomato

Bánh MìFritters

Minced sardine balls & noodles

After opening up fresh sardines produced inHachinohe, removing their organs and covering
their top with salt and pepper, lightly coatthem in ﬂour and sauté them in a pan. Enjoy
them with your preferred toppings.

Yet another appealing point of sardines
produced in Hachinohe is that they boast both
freshness and uniformity in size, making themeasy to prepare. Season them in your favorite
spice or other seasoning and fry them to savor
the juicy ﬂavor of sardines.

Because minced ﬁsh balls made with freshsardines produced in Hachinohe are almost
completely free of the smell particular tosardines, they oﬀer a diﬀerent kind ofdeliciousness compared to the minced ﬁshballs you may have had up to now.

Meunière

Fritters

NoodleSARDINES

arediesnenasS
apJerved
ARaw:

SMeunière鰮e Port, JapanhtonoihD
eli
cacy!

Season and sauté fresh sardines produced inHachinohe and enjoy them together with thevegetables and spices of your choice.

nzeFroNanban StyleBánh Mì

Fresh sardines produced in Hachinohe go
perfectly with the acidity of tomatoes. Savor
their freshness and refreshing ﬂavor with thisdish.

oneeryEv

Fry fresh sardines produced in Hachinohe in oiland marinate them in sweet-and-sour sauce
together with the vegetable of your choice tosavor the umami of sardines enveloped in arefreshing ﬂavor.

Stewed in tomato

FromHac

Nanban Style (Marinated withred pepper and onions)

Hachinohe Port

2020 Project to Promote Cooperation for Expanding Fishery Exports (Fisheries Agency)
We support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Quality Inspection
For the sardines for export that we supply to everyone, we have stringent, proprietary quality standards in place to meetour goal of keeping our sardinesʼ freshness at a level comparable to that when they are just ﬁshed out of water even after
they are frozen and thawed. In the ﬁrst step of our inspection process, we have experts judge whether the ﬁshed sardines
meet our high quality and high freshness standards for export on ﬁshing vessels and at the market. Only those sardines thatpass this inspection are transported to the processing plant. Next, in the sorting process at the processing plant, we performa double quality inspection using a machine and a visual check performed by an inspector. Sardines that meet ourThe Blessed Environmentof Hachinohe
Aomori Prefecture is blessed with rich nature and ﬁshing grounds. Here, anabundance of high-quality marine products are ﬁshed seasonally throughout
the year.
The food chain in place in Hachinohe includes ﬁshing vessels and a market
certiﬁed to carry marine food products for export to the EU as well as aHACCP-certiﬁed processing plant.

What kind of ﬁsh are sardines?

inspection criteria proceed to the next process of rapid freezing, after which they are subject to the ﬁnal process of having
their quality temperature measured to verify whether they are completely frozen up to their insides before they are shipped.
Takahide Naruko
Chairman
Sardine Popularization Association
We swiftly freeze high-quality sardines,
mackerel and other marine productsﬁshed out of the waters of Japanʼs
Hachinohe Fishing Port and supply themin a form that can be enjoyed with thesame freshness as their freshly-ﬁshedFurthermore, if necessary, we verify whether those sardines are highly fresh by measuring their K-value*, a general scientiﬁcindex for freshness employed in Japan.
*K-value: Fish muscles contain Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), a substance that acts as the source of energy for the activity. After ﬁsh perish, ATP breaks down in the followingmanner.
ATP→Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP)→Adenosine Monophosphate (AMP)→Inosine Monophosphate (IMP)→Inosine (HxR)→Hypoxanthine (Hx)
The K-value indicates HxR+Hx content in ATP and the full quantity of its decomposition products in the form of a percentage. The smaller this value is, the higher thefreshness is.

Introducing the People who Supply Sardines from Hachinohe to Everyone
We work together to ensure the sardines that reach you are tasty and high in quality!

state even after they have been thawed.

Sardines (Scientiﬁc name: Sardinops melanostictus ) delivered fromHachinohe are small ﬁsh that swim in schools in waters oﬀ of Japan while
consuming mainly plankton. In Japan, they are a regular part of peopleʼsdiet. Fresh sardines have no peculiar smell and just the right amount of sweetness, and can be eaten raw. For that reason, they
are a popular sushi topping. The ﬁsh also goes by the name “Seven Stars” due to the seven or so spots found on its body. In recentyears, sardines have been the subject of attention as a functional food due to containing rich amounts of essential fatty acids in theform of EPA and DHA, and can be tastily enjoyed using various methods of preparation.

Why are we able to supply high-quality
In addition to Hachinohe Fishing Port being close to ﬁshing grounds, sardines ﬁshed
there can be swiftly processed at a processing plant nearby the market. For that reason,
they are frozen while retaining the same high level of freshness. From there, they areloaded onto temperature-controlled container vessels, after which they depart
Hachinohe Port. This established cold chain is what enables us to supply sardines thatkeep their freshness even after they are thawed.

Being ﬁshed by ﬁshing vessels
Sardines ﬁshed out of water are
immediately stored in a freezer
inside shipping vessels. Thisensures that they are transported
to the market at Hachinohe Fishing
Port with their freshness right afterbeing ﬁshed intact.
Photos courtesy of Federation of
North Paciﬁc District Purse Seine
Fisheries Co-operative Associations ofJapan

Market at Hachinohe Fishing
PortAt the market, catches of sardines
are swiftly unloaded, after which
they are loaded into a tank orother container capable ofpreserving their freshness andtransported immediately to theprocessing plant or otherdestination.
Photos courtesy of Hachinohe Port
Logistics Globalization Promotion
Council▶

Processing plant

The processing plant is favorably
located only 1.6 km from
Hachinohe Fishing Port. A newfreezing line that was recentlyintroduced makes it possible tobox and freeze sardines withtighter sorting and inspection
processes than before.
Photos courtesy of Marunushi Co.,
Ltd.

Sardines that pass their quality
inspection conducted by both amachine and a human inspector
are frozen, after which they are
subject to the ﬁnal process of
product temperature
measurement. Once the sardines
have been veriﬁed as being
completely frozen, they areshipped as ﬁnished products.
Photos courtesy of Marunushi Co.,Ltd.

In charge of export:

In charge of freshness surveying:

Yuta Jinushi

Kazuo Namura

Aomori Prefectural Industrial

Vice-President

Market Department

Representative Director

Representative Director

Technology Research Center

Oyama Suisan Co., Ltd.

Hachinohe Uoichiba Co, Ltd.

Marunushi Co., Ltd.

and President

Food Research InstituteForm of Packaging

Product & Contact Information
Product
製 品 Name
名 冷凍いわしFrozen Sardines
Name
Sardines (Produced in Aomori Prefecture)
いわし（青森県産）
原 材 of料Raw
名 Ingredient
Product
製 品 規Speciﬁcations
格 70-100g 70-100 g
Net
内 Content
容 量10kg

10 kg

Best-Before
365 days at frozen
temperatures of -18℃ or lower
冷凍（-18℃以下）365
日間賞 味 期 間Period

Exported by:

Manufactured by:

Bikuresu Limited

Marunushi Co., Ltd.

2-6356 Kawaguchi-cho, Choshi-shi,
Chiba 288-0001
TEL: 0479-24-1246▶

Finished products

In charge of the processing plant:

Noriyuki Komatsu

MethodStorage
Please store
at frozen temperatures of -18℃ or lower.
冷凍（-18℃以下）での保管をお願いします。
保 存 方of法Process from Being Fished by Fishing Vessels to Leaving Port▶

In charge of the market:

Fumie Oyama

Bikuresu Limited

sardines from Hachinohe?

▶

In charge of ﬁshing vessels:

Departure from Hachinohe
PortThe frozen sardines shipped fromthe processing plant as ﬁnishedproducts are swiftly loaded into
temperature-controlled containers.
From there, they leave HachinohePort.
Photos courtesy of Hachinohe Port
Logistics Globalization Promotion
Council

5-1, Shirogane 2-chome,
Hachinohe-shi, Aomori 031-0821
TEL: 0178-33-1571

Recommended Fish Other
Than Sardines
In addition to sardines, tasty mackerel and young
yellowtail are also ﬁshed out of the waters ofHachinohe Fishing Port.
We supply these ﬁsh to everyone in the samehigh-quality condition as our sardines.

MackerelFROZENUse this QR code toaccess the Sardine
Popularization Association
homepage for more
information.

Young yellowtail