- No-42
- Pufferfish cuisine
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■ Commentary
Pufferfish isT the winter dish in the Shimonoseki/Moji Port area is pufferfish. Shimonoseki accounts for 80% of pufferfish caught in the wild in Japan and is a leading area where the majority of tiger pufferfish are farmed in places such as Nagasaki and Kumamoto prefectures. The Karato Marketplace (Haedomari Market) established in 1933 is known as the largest market in Japan to handle pufferfish. After being sold at Shimonoseki, the innards that contain poison are removed and the pufferfish is shipped throughout Japan.
It is thought that the reason Shimonoseki pufferfish became so famous is because of geographical advantages. Shimonoseki City faces the East China Sea, the Sea of Japan, and the Seto Inland Sea, and there were good pufferfish fishing sites nearby. In addition, it is a key transportation site and convenient for distribution. Another reason is the decline in fish hauls.
The Shimonoseki region is an area in which the fishing industry has flourished since long ago. When Western fishing methods were introduced in the Meiji period (1868–1912), it became a major base for the deep-sea fishing industry using trawlers and the Norwegian-style of whaling. Tamura Kisen Gyogyobu (later, Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd. and present-day Nissui) was founded in 1911, and Hayashi Kane Shoten (later Taiyo Gyogo; present-day Maruha Nichiro Corporation ) was founded in 1913. ItShimonoseki developed into a major fishing port that boasted Japan’s largest hauls of fish. However, the large catches of fish have declined yearly since recording a large haul of fish exceeding 280,000 tons was recorded in 1961. Infrastructure development throughout the country, a decline in fishing resources due to overfishing, and the ban on whaling have had an impact.
Under pressure to transition to fishing that has high added value, some people sought to energize Shimonoseki through pufferfish. In particular, Hideo Ono who worked at Karato Marketplace established a new market to trade in pufferfish at Haedomari Market. In addition, efforts have been made to popularize pufferfish through actions such as holding pufferfish-related events and trading in farmed pufferfish.
Furthermore, gathering persons who possess the processing techniques to remove the poisonous parts and scale pufferfish in Shimonoseki proved effective. Since they are not simple techniques that can immediately be learned, many times pufferfish were often transported to Shimonoseki from other areas where they were caught. With a push from the government, Shimonoseki was able to successfully become an area known for pufferfish.
Incidentally, in Western Japan often fugu (pufferfish) is often pronounced fuku. There are many reasons for this, including that fugu is suggestive of the word fuguu, which means misfortune, while fuku (pufferfish) sounds like a word with the same sound but written using a different kanjithe differently spelled word, fuku that means good fortune. -
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Category: Constituent cultural properties
Genre: Story 3
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