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Situated almost at the central point of the Japanese archipelago, Maizuru has prospered for many years as a port town. Well known for its excellent natural harbor, it is located on a beautiful saw-toothed ria coast in a bay set well back from the Japan Sea. The harbor is divided into east and west, the former used both by the military and for domestic trade;
the latter for international trade.
Timber is piled high on the vast site of the western harbor piers, and massive cranes unload containers at their tips. Large trailers move around the port, where foreign sailors are busy at work.
Since welcoming the first ship with a cargo of timber from Russia's far north- east in 1958, Maizuru's west harbor has become an import nexus for timber from Siberia, the U.S., and Canada, and for grain, feedstuff, bags, and underwear. An unusual import is the matsutake mushroom from North Korea. The mushroom is a prized autumn delicacy in Japan that is increasingly being imported. Maizuru's west harbor deals with a high volume of these imports. Exports include ships, as well as electrical goods and used cars bound for Russia.
The Port of Maizuru is also a base for domestic trade, including agricultural produce from Hokkaido. Yasuhiko Sakoda, general manager of the economic department at Maizuru City Office, believes that the role of the port tends to be restricted to that of a relay point to and from the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe megalopolis. His ambition is "to see us giving more added value—for example, by processing produce—to the products that pass through Maizuru." |
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| Containers being unloaded from a just-docked Korean freighter in the western harbor. |
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| Fish caught near Maizuru shores are auctioned off on the same day, so fresh fish are always available to delight palettes. |
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