KUKI, Saitama >> In landlocked Saitama prefecture, a project will soon be underway to cultivate a delicacy of the ocean: sea urchin.

The enterprise in the city of Kuki will use artificial seawater made from a local hot spring, which will then be recirculated as it is purified. There are also plans to use local fruits and vegetables as feed as a way to further promote the locally produced urchin.

The end goal is to have the aquaculture farm ready to operate by March 2024, with the cultivating of sea urchins beginning in September for shipment in November.

Teaming up on the project, announced in December, are Yamatake, which manages the Mori no Seseragi Nagomi hot spring facility, and the National Institute of Technology, Ichinoseki College, in Iwate prefecture. The institute will provide the water purification technology.

Two 4-ton water tanks will be installed in a vinyl greenhouse built on farmland adjacent to the hot spring. Ozone technology will be used to purify the artificial seawater, while the water temperature will be controlled by a heat exchange system with the hot spring water. A special app has been developed to analyze water quality, and feeding will be managed by a device using artificial intelligence.

Costs to set up the facility are estimated at about 50 million yen (about $386,500), which will be partially funded by business restructuring subsidies from the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry.

According to Daigo Yamanaka, Yamatake’s executive director, a test run that was launched in May resulted in successful cultivation of about 50 sea urchins in a small tank.

Yamatake intends to bring in sea urchin from a hatchery to be built in Hachinohe, Aomori prefecture, once the project goes into full operation and with the cooperation of the fishery industry.

The company plans to raise 6,000 urchins at the aquaculture farm in Kuki over two months.

“First, we want to serve them at the restaurant in the (hot spring),” Yamanaka said.

Once the project gets off the ground, the company plans to set up hatcheries in other prefectures to ensure a stable supply.

“By cultivating sea urchins, they can be shipped even in the off-season,” said Takashi Watanabe, an associate professor at the institute at Ichinoseki College. “We hope to give a boost to Japan’s fisheries industry as a whole through this technology.”