Oma Tuna

Published: Aug 11, 2026

Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Oma tunabluefinCape OmaShimokitaippon-zuri

Representative image — not a photograph of this location.

Oma is the northern tip of Honshu, a small town on the Tsugaru Strait, and its tuna sells for more than any other tuna in Japan — the record at the Tokyo New Year auction has passed three hundred million yen for a single fish. What makes them worth it is the strait: cold, violently tidal, and full of squid and mackerel, so the bluefin that pass through in autumn on the way south are enormous and fat.

The other half of the story is how they are caught. Oma fishermen use ippon-zuri, single-line pole fishing, one man in a small boat playing one fish for hours. The town is built on it. At Cape Oma, where the road ends, several restaurants run by fishing families serve the catch straight — a three-colour bowl of otoro, chutoro and akami for around ¥3,960, which sounds expensive until you consider what the same fish costs in Tokyo.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Restaurants at the cape typically 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM April–November and 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM December–March

Closed: Varies by restaurant — confirm before travelling

Entrance Fee

Three-colour tuna bowl around ¥3,960 | Tuna bowl around ¥3,630 | Sea urchin bowl around ¥4,150

Best Season

Autumn into early winter for fresh Oma-landed bluefin

Visit Duration

1–1.5 hours for a meal | Half a day including the drive

Getting There

Access Information

Omadaira, Oma, Shimokita District, at the northern tip of Honshu. Car recommended; ferries also run from Hakodate in Hokkaido to Oma port. Restaurants at the cape include Sakanagui no Omanzoku, open 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM from April to November and 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM from December to March, phone 0175-37-5633. Three-colour tuna bowl around ¥3,960, tuna bowl around ¥3,630, sea urchin bowl around ¥4,150.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Autumn is the season.** Bluefin move through the strait from roughly late summer into winter and the fish landed in that window are the ones the auctions want. Outside it, frozen stock is served and is honestly labelled as such at good places. **The three-colour bowl is the education.** Otoro, chutoro and akami side by side on one bowl at around ¥3,960 shows what the fuss is about far better than a single cut. **Ask whether it is Oma-landed.** Not every tuna served in Oma was caught by Oma boats. Restaurants run by fishing families will tell you straight; it is a normal question here. **Winter hours are shorter.** From December to March the cape restaurants open later and close earlier. This is the end of a long peninsula — do not arrive at four in January. **The Hakodate ferry is the interesting way.** Oma to Hakodate is about ninety minutes across the strait, which makes the town a viable link between Honshu and Hokkaido rather than a dead end.

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