Saba Kaido

The ancient capital of Kyoto was connected to Wakasa Province via a series of routes known as the Saba Kaido (“Mackerel Road” or “Mackerel Highway”). Men carried baskets of fish from Obama along these routes. The shortest route measures approximately 72 kilometers and took two days to travel on foot. Accounts from the Edo period (1603–1868) show that mackerel and other seafood from the region, known as “Wakasamono,” have been much coveted in Kyoto markets for centuries.