History of Sashimi in Japan

日本人と刺身

History of Sashimi in Japan

Creators Shiba Tsuneo

Seafood has been a delicacy in Japan for long time. Although Japan has a long coastal line, steep mountains had prevented the people in inland areas from being able to readily travel to coastal areas. Cereals were the most important protein source for them, as neither of pigs nor chickens was reared for foods. Japanese people under the strong influence of Buddhism had been unwilling to kill warm-blooded animals. Japanese cuisine is distinctive from that of other East Asian countries where pork is a traditional food, even though Buddhism is the principal religion in both of Japan and other Asian countries. Food fish was the only permissible animal protein for Japanese in those days, but seafood was not affordable for people in inland-areas. Fish is perishable, and could not be transported to inland areas. The scarcity increased the value of seafood in inland areas. Around thirteen hundred years ago, seafood was a luxury for the aristocrats in the capital located in the Nara Basin that was isolated from the sea by the Ikoma Mountains. Salting and drying were frequently utilized as processing protocols for fishes, while vinegar-flavored sliced fishes were the most favorite foods. Sea bream, caught in Osaka Bay 40 km from the capital, had been recognized as the best among fishes, and was brought to the capital by carriers. Although post horses had been installed along the route from Osaka Bay to the capital, horses could not traverse the Ikoma Mountains. The amount brought by carriers was very limited. Although a fermented fish food, Nare-zushi, had been already developed utilizing carp and rice in those days, it seems not to have become a readily available food. Rice was precious, but nevertheless discarded after the fermentation was complete. Rice was utilized only as a preservative due to its lactic acid fermentation. In the Muromachi period, around 700 years ago, seafood began to be tasted without cooking by aristocrats and samurais. Cutting was the most important culinary skill. The word “Sashimi” was coined for the sliced fish tasted only with salt or vinegar for dipping. Fishing and distribution technologies seem to have developed since then, and a large amount of fresh sea fishes were shipped to Kyoto, the capital city, at the end of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (ca. 400 years ago). Fresh seafood seemed to have become popular in winter in Kyoto. In the Edo period (approximately 400 to 150 years ago), sashimi became a delicacy of ordinary people living in Edo (currently named Tokyo) City. Shoals of bonito were found in the coastal area．Many bonito were caught at the mouth of Tokyo Bay, and transported to a fish market located in the area of Nihon-Bashi with small vessels called Oshokuri-Bune. The vessel was equipped with seven Japanese sculls and rowed by a crew of more than 7 fishermen by turn. The scull is called Ro in Japanese and is comprised of a shaft and a long flat blade that are joined by wooden bolt to each other with a slight angle. The fish market was about 70-km from the mouth of Tokyo Bay, and it took ca. 10 hours for the vessel to arrive at the market. The fishes landed at the market were quickly sold to the retailers called Boteburi who brought the fishes and sold them by using a shoulder-carrying pole. Ordinary people hung bonito with a rope in the well for refrigeration, where the temperature was constant and usually less than 15℃ . The people in those days tasted it with mustard, in place of Wasabi that is currently used as a condiment for sashimi and has an extremely strong flavor. Nowadays, sashimi is one of the most favorite foods for Japanese. They enjoy the color, glossy cut surface and sweet taste of sliced pieces draped over long thin strands of white radish and accompanied with green leaves as a garnish. Immaculate presentations of sashimi dishes are as important as the quality of the sashimi itself. Many Japanese people eat sashimi before other strong flavors affect the palate. Such a Japanese cultural appreciation of subtlety has developed over the last 13 centuries.

[ISSN]0370-9361