Overwhelming Sweetness and Umami Nurtured by the World's Only "Sea Urchin Farm"! "Hirono Uni Farm's Four-Year Sea Urchin," Enriching the Sea with Every Bite, Released This Year

Hirono Uni Farm's Four-Year Sea Urchin

Kitasanriku Factory Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Hirono Town, Kunohe District, Iwate Prefecture; Representative Director: Yukinori Shimotsubo; hereinafter: Kitasanriku Factory) began shipping this season's "Hirono Uni Farm's Four-Year Sea Urchin," a specialty of Hirono Town, Iwate Prefecture, on May 8, 2026. Sales are scheduled to continue until mid-August.

◾️ A Unique System that Achieves Both "Deliciousness" and "Marine Regeneration"

In recent years, "isoyake," the desertification of the sea due to the disappearance of seaweed beds, which are spawning and growth grounds for fish, has become a serious problem worldwide. One of the causes is the "grazing damage" caused by sea urchins consuming all the seaweed, leading to the promotion of sea urchin culling. However, most of the culled sea urchins have poor meat quality because they grew in an environment with insufficient food (seaweed), and many are currently discarded.

In this context, Hirono Town has built a unique system that solves the two problems of "isoyake" and "sea urchins with poor meat quality," while delivering delicious sea urchins to outside the region and creating economic value within the region.

<1. The World's Only "Uni Farm®" (*1)>

The Uni Farm® is a proliferation ditch created in the late 1960s by local fishermen who dug 178 trenches in a shallow rocky area, extending approximately 18 km in total. Natural seaweed flows into these trenches from offshore, creating a rich feeding ground for sea urchins where kelp thrives. Because it is an environment where delicious sea urchins grow splendidly, it came to be called "Uni Farm" after farms for cattle and other livestock.

(*1) World's only: According to our own research

Part of Uni Farm®

<2. Rearing of "Juvenile Sea Urchins" at the Aquaculture Fisheries Center>

The Taneichi Fishing Port in Hirono Town has a facility called the "Sea Urchin Aquaculture Fisheries Center," which conducts land-based rearing of sea urchins from hatching until they reach one year of age. Sea urchins raised in an environment properly managed by experts grow to about one centimeter in size in one year.

Juvenile sea urchins growing at the Sea Urchin Aquaculture Fisheries Center

<3. Two-Stage Rearing by Fishermen and Divers in Offshore and Uni Farm®>

Sea urchins raised at the Aquaculture Fisheries Center are released into offshore fishing grounds by fishermen and divers, where they spend two years. After that, these sea urchins are moved to the Uni Farm®, where they spend one year feeding sufficiently on abundant kelp, completing a total of four years to become top-quality sea urchins with excellent meat quality and umami. Sea urchins with poor meat quality that grew up offshore are also moved to the Uni Farm®. By appropriately thinning out offshore sea urchins with scarce seaweed and raising them to be delicious, this system also contributes to marine regeneration.

Work in offshore fishing grounds

<4. Unique Cycle Managed by the Entire Community>

To ensure that the finished sea urchins are delivered to customers in a state of exceptional freshness, in addition to the four-year cycle described above, the landing, processing, and shipping are strictly managed through collaboration among various members from industry, government, and academia. This allows the entire community to realize sustainable sea urchin fishing that achieves both "deliciousness" and "marine regeneration."

"Hirono Uni Farm's Four-Year Sea Urchin" 4-year cycle

◾️ Comment from Yukinori Shimotsubo, Representative Director of Kitasanriku Factory

"The long-awaited season for 'Hirono Uni Farm's Four-Year Sea Urchin' has arrived again this year. This sea urchin is the culmination of various miracles, including the blessings of nature, the efforts of local people, and the culture of Uni Farm®. It is characterized by overwhelming sweetness and umami, and we are confident in its quality. May, when it is just released, is what we call 'Uni Nouveau,' a period when you can feel a refreshing sweetness and umami. It has a different charm from richness, so we would like you to enjoy its clear taste directly without seasoning if possible.

We hope that you will join our 'marine regeneration' efforts by 'eating deliciously' so that we can leave delicious sea urchins and marine products, and a rich sea and region, for future generations."

◾️ How to Purchase

Official Online Shop: https://kitasanrikufactory-store.com/

Inquiries for restaurant and retailer representatives: info@kitasanrikufactory.co.jp

◾️ About Kitasanriku Factory

Kitasanriku Factory is a leading sustainable seafood company that develops high-quality sea urchin brands in Hirono Town, Iwate Prefecture, which boasts the largest sea urchin catch on Honshu and has established sustainable sea urchin fishing. With the mission of "Enriching the world's oceans from Kitasanriku," the company has accumulated expertise in cultivating high-quality sea urchins. It is promoting initiatives to create a sustainable future for the fishing industry by connecting with the world through its new "Sea Urchin Regeneration Aquaculture System" technology. In 2023, it established an Australian subsidiary and is expanding its business both domestically and internationally. In February 2026, the demonstration experiment building, the first phase of the large-scale land-based aquaculture project 'UNI-VERSE Site™ Hirono' equipped with the sea urchin regeneration aquaculture system, was completed in Hirono Town.