When I arrive at salt master Yuzen Inoue¡¯s atelier in Yuya Bay in Yamaguchi Prefecture, the tranquil soundscape of seawater trickling through the frames of his salt-making apparatus is punctuated only by the occasional splash of bora (mullet) leaping from the adjacent bay waters.

Inoue, 53, is a salt maker who began his operations following Japan¡¯s full repeal in 2002 of its nearly century-long governmental salt monopoly, which took control of salt production in 1905 and banned traditional salt fields in 1971 (only raw imported salt was allowed then).