In the late 1960s and early ‘70s, artificial hatching projects proved fruitful, and salmon catches – which had continued to be poor for so long – repeatedly doubled on the previous year’s haul. Salmon, the once luxury fish became a popular foodstuff that adorned dinner tables and was readily available from shops throughout Japan. The Shibetsu railway line, which previously propelled the inland development, became a way of enticing seasonal workers from the Tohoku region, who contributed to the reinforcement of the workforce that was lacking during the salmon fishing season. Currently, asphalt roads run through the region, and young people gather every autumn to do temporary jobs involved in salmon processing. Of the countless stories woven in this region for over 10,000 years, all of them featured salmon in some way or another. The Nemuro Strait coast, which has laughed with salmon and cried with salmon, even now continues to see people come and go as a place with a heritage in which everything is linked to salmon.