❖ Meet Your Guide

07:00

Your morning begins at the ticket gate of Kii-Katsuura Station at 7:00 AM, where your private guide waits with a sign board to greet you before the town stirs.

❖ Tuna Auction Tour

07:05 - 08:00 (55 min)

Step onto the auction floor and watch the morning sale unfold. Rows of glistening tuna are laid out as buyers move down the line, carefully assessing each fish before the bidding begins, and then the energy turns electric as deals are struck in seconds. Your guide decodes the rapid calls and hand signals as they happen.

❖ Katsuura Port & Bindama (Glass Float) Street

08:00 - 08:30 (30 min)

Walk down to the harbour and back into the 1930s, when this port was the beating heart of Katsuura. Tuna boats once filled the water, sailors spent their days ashore before setting sail, and families lodged in the town's onsen inns to send them off.

The working quay still hums with the rhythm of a fishing town: a forklift threads between stacked fish-cooperative crates while trawlers ride at their moorings beneath the steep green ridge that shelters the bay. The lane here is named for the bindama, the glass floats that once buoyed fishing nets and now glint as keepsakes of that era.

Strolling the old shop street, your guide traces the town's changing fortunes through vintage photographs, from its bustling fishing industry to its later rise as a popular honeymoon destination, beneath the glass floats still hung along the eaves.

❖ Foot Bath "Maguro-no-yu" Break

08:30 - 08:50 (20 min)

Pause at Maguro-no-yu, a warm onsen footbath beside the Katsuura fishing port, and let your feet rest. After walking through the town's vibrant past, it is a moment to appreciate the one thing that has stayed unchanged through the ages: its hot springs. As you soak, your guide shares the charm of Katsuura's onsen and insights into the town today.

❖ Hondori & Izakata Street Shopping

08:50 - 09:20 (30 min)

Browse the Hondori and Izakata shopping streets where your guide does their own everyday shopping, and pick out your own breakfast just as the locals do. Between the long-standing establishments you will meet shops run by young entrepreneurs working hard to revitalize the town, from a well-stocked sake merchant to a stall piled with local Japanese mandarins.

❖ Breakfast Picnic with a View

09:20 - 10:00 (40 min)

Settle in at one of your guide's favourite spots for a fresh, locally sourced breakfast assembled from the very items you gathered on the town walk. The setting is chosen on the day to suit the weather: a perfect view on a sunny morning, or a cozy guesthouse lounge if it rains.

Fresh tuna sashimi, a rice ball, a warm tuna cutlet and a local mandarin make a fitting close to the morning. The tour ends around 10:00 AM at a central location in Katsuura.