The Japanese are renowned for their love of tuna. One-fifth of the world’s tuna is said to be consumed by the Japanese. According to data of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Japanese households eat an average of about two kilograms of tuna a year. In the ranking of fish eaten frequently by the Japanese, tuna comes second behind salmon.
     Tuna is one of my favorites too. When I visited the Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo, the bluefin tuna sashimi and minced tuna meat cutlets that I purchased at Maguro Kobo Tsukiji Hokuei were really tasty. Ms. Junko Nishimura, a registered dietician who answered my questions there, explained to me that the Hokuei Group concludes blanket contracts with tuna fishing boats to purchase the whole of the boat’s catch and then engages in dissection, processing, and sales itself. The minced tuna meat cutlets, she told me, are a popular item developed using leftover meat so that the whole tuna is eaten without any waste.
     My interest in tuna piqued, I visited the office of Hokuei Shokuhin Co., Ltd. in Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo and spoke with Mr. Ken Saito, the head of the Group’s Sales and Marketing HQ, and Mr. Yasunari Sawai, deputy head of the Sales and Marketing HQ and chief of the Manufacturing Department. These two gentlemen have been handling tuna for a long time at Hokuei, which marked the fortieth anniversary of its founding last year, so they really can be described as tuna professionals.