The sun rises over Sagami Bay at Ito, on the eastern shore of Japan's Izu Penninsula. With the main island of Japan sitting near the eastern edge of its time zone, the sun comes up very early in the summer - around 4:30 am.
Shizoka Prefecture, Japan is renowned for its sun-dried seafood. Fresh-caught fish, octupus, and squid are dried on wire racks in the sun. At this street-side shop in Ito City, the small wooden sign identifies these as "iidako", or Amphioctopus fangsiao, a species of octopus found in the Pacific Ocean. The whole dried octopus is available at left, and on the right are presented "takoyaki", a ball-shaped snack made of a wheat flour-based batter stuffed with minced octopus and cooked in a special takoyaki pan.
