The Japanese Technique for Harvesting Sea Salt by Hand

To Ryoichi Toya, salt is a treasure from the sea. He’s an Agehama-style salt maker in Suzu, Japan, and his facility is one of the last to harvest sea salt using this traditional technique that is unique to the Noto peninsula. Dating back centuries, the process begins with seawater being carried in buckets from the ocean to be scattered onto a large bed of raked sand. After it sets, the salt-coated sand is scraped off and shoveled into a tank, and the process continues from there. It’s hard, manual work. But to a master like Toya, the effort pays off in sea salt that is rich in minerals and mild in taste.