Hirado Hirado City, Nagasaki Food Festival Hirado Flounder Festival

If you want to eat Hirame, now is the time! If you want to eat Hirame, go to Hirado!

　Flounder is now in season. While flounder is a popular fish, Hirame is a high-end fish comparable to sea bream. It is considered the best white-fleshed fish for sashimi, with a light flavor, but with concentrated deliciousness. The city of Hirado in Nagasaki Prefecture has one of the highest catches of Hirame in Japan. Enjoy Hirado's Hirame at the "Hirado Hirame Festival," which is held every year during the season!

Fatty and full of umami Delicious, tight-fleshed cold birame

Hirame is in season from January to March. Hirame during this season are also called "Kambirame," and their flesh is thicker and finer. Moreover, they are at their most delicious before spawning, when the fat is at its peak. The waters around Hirado are rich in small fish due to the inflow of the Tsushima Current. Hirame are caught in the rough seas from the Goto Sea and boast of their firm flesh.
The Shishiki area in the southern district of Hirado City is one of the largest areas in Japan with a catch of over 100 tons of wild Hirame (flatfish), some of which are called "Zabuton" and are 50 cm long and weigh over 5 kg. During the Hirado Hirame Festival, you will be able to taste the best of Hirado Hirame at accommodations and restaurants.

If you want to eat before crossing the Hirado Bridge

　The 2025 Flounder Festival will run from January 25 to March 16. During this period, 15 restaurants and 8 accommodations will offer Hirama dishes. In addition to Hirado Island, three of those restaurants and the "Kuromon" guest house are participating in the Tahira-cho area on the land side of the Hirado Ohashi Bridge, known as "Hiradoguchi.
　Restaurant on the 2nd floor of "Hirado Seto Ichiba" where you can buy fresh fish and other products from Hirado. The "Hirado Hirame Gozen" (2,300 yen) is available only on weekdays. Across the street, "Hirado Nishibata Yumenoman Tahira" offers "Hirami sashimi alone" (1,870 yen), "Hirami chazuke" (1,320 yen), and "Hirami sashimi set meal" (2,420 yen, photo). One of the best ways to eat Hirado Hirami is while gazing at the bright red Hirado Ohashi Bridge and Hirado Island beyond it.
　For a taste of nigirizushi, go to Samurai Sushi along the Matsuura Railway line. Hirame nigiri with miso soup is 1,980 yen. There is also a sashimi set meal (1,980 yen) and a "Hirame Gozen" (2,750 yen). For sightseeing nearby, we recommend visiting Tadaira Catholic Church, a brick church built in 1918 and designed by Yosuke Tetsukawa. It is a National Important Cultural Property.

Easy, casual, and full of flounder!

　On Hirado Island, 12 restaurants and 7 lodging facilities are participating in the Hirama Festival. For a casual, relaxed dining experience, how about "Shunsenkan" in the Hirado Fisheries Cooperative Association? The restaurant serves Hirama chazuke for 1,700 yen, Hirama set meal for 2,200 yen, and Hirama donburi (flatfish rice bowl).
　There are three stores in the area leading to the Hirado Dutch Trading Post. Kaisen-meshidokoro Amachan, like Shunsenkan, is a popular diner where you can enjoy "Hirame set meal" (2,300 yen). There is also "Creative Japanese Cuisine Dining Tsubaki" in an old merchant's house, which offers three choices including "Hirame Sashimi Set Meal" (1,430 yen) and "Extravagant Hirame Kaiseki Set" (2,970 yen). For a different kind of menu, go to "COFFEE & PIZZA Ootachoja" just down the street. They offer a "Hirame Seafood Pizza" (medium size, 1,300 yen). Don't forget to visit the Hirado Dutch Trading Post.
　Restaurant Bay Leaf, located in front of the Hirado City Hall near the Sachi-bashi Bridge, a national important cultural asset, also offers a casual atmosphere. The menu offers "Hirame Gozen" (2,200 yen). And if you go from the Hirado Ohashi Bridge toward Kawauchi Pass, the opposite direction of the city center, you will find the "Gohan-ya with a view of the sea" where you can enjoy flatfish dishes. As the name suggests, you should try the "Hirame Gozen Set Meal" (1,800 yen) or "Hirame Gozen" (3,500 yen) while looking out the window at the view of the sea. The restaurant is also proud of its rice cooked in a traditional Japanese rice kettle.

After sightseeing, a night out at an izakaya (Japanese-style pub) for a flounder dinner.

　Hirado City is the castle town of the Matsuura clan. On the west side of Hirado Port, behind the city hall, is the area of Hirado Castle, where the Hirado Castle Keep and Kameoka Park, the site of the castle's second citadel, are located. On the east side of the city, behind the fishing port facing Hirado Castle, is the Matsuura Museum of History in Kagamigawa Town, where you can see various materials on the Matsuura clan, which ruled this area for more than 650 years.
　After you have finished sightseeing in the castle town, you can enjoy a delicious meal of flatfish at an inn or at a tavern in the evening. The popular local restaurant Ikesu Izakaya Daitokuji offers a "Hirame Gozen" (2,500 yen) with tempura for 2,850 yen. The "Shun Hirado Gozen" (3,600 yen) is also a good choice if you want to splurge a bit. Izakaya Shunraku is also open for lunch, offering the "Hirame Set Meal (2,000 yen)" for both lunch and dinner. In addition, Yoshino Restaurant is also open for lunch. In the evening, it is open until 23:30, the latest among the member restaurants. Hirame Sushi is available at 330 yen per piece, with a minimum order of one piece. Sashimi is 2,300 yen, and the Hirame Gozen is 2,800 yen.
　If you want to enjoy sushi at a sushi restaurant, go to Ike Susushi Toyo Sushi or Takara Sushi in the suburbs. Toyosuji offers a variety of dishes including a bowl of rice topped with flounder (2,860 yen) and nigiri (8 pieces of flounder with miso soup) (3,300 yen). At Takara Sushi, both the sashimi set meal and nigiri set meal are priced at 2,300 yen.
　And if you want to enjoy it as a luxurious course meal at a high-class ryotei, "Irori Ryori Ebisu Tei" is listed in the "2019 Michelin Guide". Located in the mountains away from the city center, the restaurant accepts "Hirame Satisfaction Course" (10,450 yen per person) by reservation only.

Take your time to savor the flounder at the inn.

　In Hirado City, there are more than 40 hotels, inns, and guest houses that are members of the tourist association. Hirado also has hot springs, and although few in number, there are accommodations with hot spring facilities. Six of the hotels participating in the Hirama Festival have hot spring baths. The inns offer special menus such as "Hirame Kaiseki" and "Hirame Gozen" or "Hirame Matsuri Plan" as lodging plans.
　In the city center, there is the long-established "Hatashotei" located behind the Hirado Dutch Trading House, or the "Hirado Kaijo Hotel" where you can enjoy a hot spring bath by the sea at the end of the Hirado Dutch Trading House. Hotel Saiyo" of the former Wakikawa Onsen, located along the road leading toward the Hirado Ohashi Bridge, also offers a view of the sea from its bathrooms. Ryotei Saigetsuan," located on a hill overlooking Hirado Seto, offers hot spring baths in all of its rooms.
　And "Ryokan Tanoura Onsen" at the northern tip of Hirado Island is a one-house inn for the connoisseur's taste. The inn is small and cozy. It boasts an iron carbonate spring associated with Kukai. It is popular for the quantity, freshness, cost-effectiveness, and deliciousness of its cuisine.
　Although it does not have a hot spring, you should not miss "Minshuku Kuriyama" located in Shikabuki-ura, the main hub of Hirado Hirame. The ladies of the women's club of the Shisugi Fishing Cooperative serve freshly caught fish. Naturally, the freshness of the flounder is right in front of your eyes. The "Guest House Kuromon" in Tahiraguchi and the "Old Private House Inn Sonoda," which supplies hot spring water from Hirado Onsen and is limited to one couple per day, also offer the "Flounder Festival Plan. Spend a blissful time at the inn or after taking a bath in Hirado's cold Hirame.

　How about taking a stroll through the historic town of Hirado while tasting the early spring cold Hirameshi? For inquiries, please contact the Hirado Tourist Association.