Japan seaweed season

Seaweed farmers in the wildfire-stricken city of Ofunato in northeastern Japan’s Iwate Prefecture have begun harvesting cultivated wakame for the first time this season.

Offloading of the local specialty got into full swing at Ryori Port on Saturday. The harvest comes about a week later than in the past several years due to an evacuation order issued late last month after forest fires broke out. 

Port officials said some farmers have no choice but to ship wakame in a raw form as the fires have disabled their cookers. They said the price of raw wakame tends to be lower than if it is boiled.