Visiting Nemuro, Hokkaido
Most people who buy Hokkaido Uni never see where it comes from. We do. Every tray we sell starts with a relationship — a handshake in a cold processing facility on the eastern edge of Japan, a shared meal with a producer who wakes up before sunrise every single day to make sure your Uni is perfect. So on March 2026, I visited Nemuro and met several key Uni players there.
This is the story of our 2026 visit to Nemuro — the furthest point east in Japan, and home to some of the finest Bafun Uni on earth.
Why Nemuro?
Nemuro sits at the northeastern tip of Hokkaido, facing the cold Pacific. The water here is some of the cleanest in Japan — fed by the Oyashio Current, rich in nutrients, and cold enough year-round to produce the dense, sweet Uni that chefs in Tokyo and New York pay top dollar for.
This is Bafun Uni country. The small, spiky sea urchin with the deep orange roe that defines the highest grades at Hokkaido auction. When you see Gokujo AAA on a tray, there's a good chance it came from waters close to here.
Two Producers. One Vision.
We visited two operations on this trip — and what struck us immediately about both was the same thing: young leadership with a global outlook. These aren't companies resting on tradition. They're building something.
カネタ水産 (Kaneta Suisan) — Takeuchi Uni
Kaneta Suisan is the producer behind our Takeuchi Uni. Their young president has invested heavily in the entire supply chain — from the sea to the tray. What sets them apart is the precision of their process and their commitment to additive-free production. Every tray that leaves Kaneta goes through multiple quality checks before it earns a grade.
マルコ水産 (Maruko Suisan) — Maruko Uni
Maruko Suisan produces our Maruko Uni, which became famous for its collaboration with Demon Slayer — but behind the design is serious product. Their president is equally young, equally ambitious. Over dinner, he told us his goal is simple: make Hokkaido Uni a brand the world recognizes the way they recognize Kobe beef.
"We want the world to know Hokkaido Uni the way they know Kobe beef."
— Maruko Suisan President
From Ocean to Tray: What We Saw
Most Uni buyers never see this part. We do — because it matters to what you receive.
Step 1 — Live Urchins, Straight from the Sea
The sea urchins arrive alive. Harvested that morning, handled with care to avoid stress — stress affects flavor. The Bafun Uni are small and dense. The Murasaki are larger, with a slightly more delicate roe. Both go through the same rigorous process.
Step 2 — Opening and Cleaning
Each urchin is opened by hand. The roe — the part you eat — is carefully extracted, cleaned of any shell fragments, and assessed. This is where the first grading decisions begin. You can already see the difference between a piece that will become Gokujo and one that won't.
Step 3 — The Processing Line
The processing room is cold, bright, and spotless. Workers in full protective gear move quickly but precisely. Every piece is handled individually. There's no automation at this stage — human hands, human judgment. This is why Hokkaido Uni costs what it costs.
Step 4 — The Water
This is the detail that surprised us most: both producers use advanced water purification systems to clean the Uni during processing. Pure, temperature-controlled seawater. No chemicals. No shortcuts. The Nanox system you see here is one example — it keeps the water at optimal salinity and removes any contaminants. This is what makes additive-free (無添加 / Mutenka) Uni possible at scale.
Step 5 — Grading and Packing
This is what it all leads to. A Gokujo AAA tray, packed by hand, piece by piece. Each row uniform. The color: deep, vibrant orange. The shape: intact. This tray will go to auction in Hokkaido, where our team evaluates it alongside hundreds of others every morning.
And the boxes they go into — each producer has their own signature design.
And the boxes they go into — each producer has their own signature design. These aren't afterthoughts. They're statements.
Takeuchi Uni by Kaneta Suisan — 根室勇の生うに. The red flower box is unmistakable at auction.
Maruko Uni by Maruko Suisan — the iconic teal checker box. One of the most recognized designs in the Hokkaido Uni market.
After the Factory: Dinner in Nemuro
After the facility tours, both producers took us to dinner at a local restaurant in Nemuro. No menus. Just whatever was caught that day, prepared by people who've eaten this way their whole lives.
Uni gunkan, Ikura. Local white fish. Caviar. The Uni we ate that night was from trays that had been packed hours before, three minutes from the restaurant. That's the version of freshness most of the world never experiences.
Local Hokkaido fish. Kinki tempura from the same waters. Over dinner, the conversation moved from grading systems to export routes to what Hokkaido Uni could become in the next decade. Two young producers, one Hokkaido Uni Shop, one shared direction: the world needs to know where this comes from.
Why This Matters When You Order
When you order Takeuchi Uni or Maruko Uni from us, you're not buying a commodity. You're buying from a producer whose facility we've walked through, whose process we've seen firsthand, whose president we've eaten dinner with.
We select the tray at Hokkaido auction. Not a distributor. Not a middleman. Us. We know what a Gokujo tray from Kaneta looks like. We know what Maruko's best work tastes like. That knowledge travels with every order.
Freshness guaranteed or full refund. That's not a policy. That's a promise we can make because we know exactly where it came from.
Follow our producer visits and daily auction selection on Instagram.
@hokkaido_uni_shop →Photos taken on location at Kaneta Suisan and Maruko Suisan facilities, Nemuro, Hokkaido, Japan.
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