The Mackerel Highway: Japan's Road from Kyoto to the Sea

Kyoto is famous for its temples, gardens and centuries of history. But beyond the city's celebrated sights lies another fascinating piece of Japanese history, one involving old trade routes, fishing villages and an unlikely namesake.

Mackerel.

For centuries, a network of routes connected Kyoto with the fishing ports of Wakasa Bay on the Sea of Japan. Merchants carried seafood inland to the old capital, including salted mackerel that became so closely associated with the trade that the routes earned the name Saba Kaido, or Mackerel Highway.

Not exactly the sort of name that immediately suggests a scenic journey through rural Japan.

But perhaps it should.

Following the fish

Before refrigerated trucks and modern highways, getting seafood from the coast to Kyoto meant carrying it across mountain passes.

Salt helped preserve the fish, while merchants and porters negotiated narrow trails and river valleys to reach the capital's markets.

The traffic wasn't limited to seafood. Other goods, travelers and cultural influences moved along these routes, connecting Kyoto with the coastal communities of Wakasa Bay.

The Mackerel Highway wasn't actually one road, either. Several routes crossed the region, linking different settlements and trading communities.

Today, those old connections provide a fascinating excuse to leave Kyoto's busy streets behind and explore a side of Japan that many visitors never discover.

From Kyoto's countryside to the coast

Beyond Kyoto, the landscape changes quickly.

Forested slopes rise above winding rivers. Quiet roads lead past small villages, old shrines and traditional houses. Stands of cedar give way to fields and hamlets tucked into the countryside.

Some settlements have been here for centuries. Others have grown quieter as younger generations have moved away, leaving behind reminders of the communities that once supported trade between Kyoto and the coast.

As the journey continues, the landscape gradually opens toward Wakasa Bay, where fishing boats, coastal villages and the waters of the Sea of Japan offer an entirely different picture.

It is a beautiful contrast to Kyoto's famous temples and busy streets, and a reminder that Japan's history extends well beyond its celebrated cities.

Mackerel with a little patience

The region's relationship with fish hasn't disappeared.

In the coastal village of Tagarasu, an old elementary school has been given a new purpose: producing heshiko, a traditional preserved mackerel.

The fish is salted, packed in rice bran and left to ferment, sometimes for more than a year.

Yes, a year.

The result is a strongly flavored regional specialty, often grilled or served with rice. It is a reminder of how coastal communities developed their own distinctive food traditions long before refrigeration.

And the converted school offers another glimpse of rural Japan, where communities are finding new uses for old buildings while keeping local traditions alive.

A different road out of Kyoto

The Mackerel Highway is more than an unusual name from Japan's trading past. It offers a wonderful introduction to the countryside between Kyoto and the Sea of Japan.

And a bicycle is a particularly enjoyable way to discover it.

Your guide, Joshua, has spent years cycling and exploring the old Saba Kaido routes, discovering quiet country roads, nearly forgotten hamlets and fishing communities where traditions such as heshiko remain part of everyday life. His familiarity with the region brings those little places and their stories into your journey.

Our Kyoto to the Sea bicycle tour explores this historic corridor, following quiet roads through river valleys and rural communities toward the northern coast.

It isn't an attempt to retrace every step of the old fish porters. The pleasure lies in discovering the landscape, villages and food traditions that connect the two regions.

Kyoto will always have its famous temples and gardens.

But there's a lot to be said for following the mackerel out of town.