“The appeal of tuna is that you can enjoy different tastes for each part and cook them the way you want,” said Ueno, talking about his YouTube channel.

The Sannkei Shimbun

Katsuhiko Ueda, a former fisherman with the unusual background of having been a former Fisheries Agency employee, is working on reviving Japan’s fish eating habits through the”SAKANA & JAPAN PROJECT”.

The project, found on YouTube at “Uekatsu straight road down the fish road,” using the catchy abbreviation of Ueda’s first and last names. It was developed jointly with The Sankei Shimbun, based on the outline of articles under the same title serialized in the daily newspaper.

Ueda uses his YouTube shows to teach how to handle and cook seasonal varieties of fish to bring out their best flavors.

He was involved in dolphin fishing as a university student. After taking a leave of absence to become a fisherman, he joined the Japan Fisheries Agency, where he conducted whale research in the Antarctic Ocean, and studied the development of tuna resources in the Pacific Ocean.

Sensing a crisis in that Japanese people were “straying away from fish, he left the agency to set up an association for reviving interest in eating fish.

Sometimes referred to as a “fish missionary,” Ueda has made it his life’s mission to help people find new ways to enjoy the pleasure of eating fish.

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