Takaashi-gani, the world's largest arthropods, is found in the abyss along the Pacific coast of Japan, from the north of Honshu to Kyushu. The largest one has a shell, width of 40 cm, and a gross weight of 20 kg. It has unique claws with many hemispheric processes to crack the hard armor of shellfish to eat. All kinds of shellfish are its favorite catches. Four types of its family species were already lost, and this crab is the one and only species of this kind still alive in the world. It hadn't been thought as an ingredient for the seafood dish in Japan though, a ryokan master near Heta fishing port managed to cook it for his guests in 1960. This is the origin of this crab dish, which is now widely known across the country, and is also known as a local specialty of the areas around Suruga Bay, Shizuoka Prefecture.
Licensed tour guide, travel consultant,
Masahisa Takaki.
全国通訳案内士 高木聖久。
