Laver or nori (alto called ama-nori and 
aB&kusa-nori), of which Porphyra tenera it the leading species, was 
not only collected "bat also cultivated in numerous places. It was pro¬ 
duced chiefly along the east coast of Honshu and along the shores of 
the Inland Sea. Japanese statistics for 1936 claimed a culture area of 
60 million square meters* Yields in recent years have been 30.8 to 36.0 
million kilograms (Sable 15). The largest production was in the waters 
of Tokyo Bay; Tokyo Prefecture and the neighboring prefectures of 
Kanagawa and Chiba are estimated to have produced about 70 percent of 
the total* Jichi, Ule and Hiroshima prefectures ranked next with Tama- 
guchl, Kumamoto, Fukuoka and Shisuoka prefectures producing smaller 
amounts* 
Shallow bays and inlets where the water is somewhat brackish and 
where the plants are partially out of water at low tide were preferred 
for cultivation* Bundles of bamboo brush on which spores were collected 
were placed in the sea in September and later the Punches were trans¬ 
ferred to nearby rearing sites. The gathering of •leaves' 1 began in 
December and continued through the following March, in many cases the 
collection being carried on by farmers as a winter season side-line. The 
weeds were washed, cut into shreds and then dried in sheets on reed 
screens. Sun drying was commonly employed although drying rooms with 
artificial heat were used in some places. Dried laver, used as a food, 
was simply roasted or was further processed to give it special flavor. 
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