''Funazushi'' is a type of ''nare-zushi'', an ancient Japanese type of

sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...

. It is a local dish of

Shiga Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...

(formerly

Ōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō Circuit (subnational entity), circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, ...

), where it has been made since ancient times using

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan. It is located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13 ...

's '' nigorobuna'' (''Carassius auratus grandoculis'') and other fish as the main ingredients.

Overview

''Funazushi'' is a type of ''nare-zushi''. ''Nare-zushi'' is a food made by salting raw fish for several months, removing the salt, and then mixing it with cooked rice and fermenting it with

lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillales are an order of gram-positive, low-GC, acid-tolerant, generally nonsporulating, nonrespiring, either rod-shaped (bacilli) or spherical ( cocci) bacteria that share common metabolic and physiological characteristics. These bact ...

. Generally, the rice used for fermentation is discarded and only the fish is eaten. Modern ''sushi'' is made with rice mixed with

vinegar Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

, but this has been around since the 17th century; until then, the word ''sushi'' meant ''nare-zushi''. Many literature claim that ''nare-zushi'' originated from a fish storage method found in the mountainous region of

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, but there are also different theories. Today,

crucian carp The crucian carp (''Carassius carassius'') is a medium-sized member of the common carp family Cyprinidae. It occurs widely in northern European regions. Its name derives from the Low German ''karusse'' or ''karutze'', possibly from Medieval Lat ...

with the

ovaries The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are endocr ...

is generally used for ''funazushi''. However, until the 19th century, the ovaries were often absent. The

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

part smells similar to

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

. Often cut into thin slices before eating. Often eaten as a snack with

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

. It is sometimes made into ''

chazuke ''Chazuke'' ( 茶漬け, ちゃづけ) or ''ochazuke'' ( お茶漬け, from ( o)''cha'' ' tea' + ''tsuke'' 'submerge') is a simple Japanese dish made by pouring green tea,Nigorobuna'' (''Carassius auratus grandoculis'') is used to make ''funazushi''. The lactic acid softens the bones so that the fish can be eaten down to the bones. Until the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, many documents stated that ''gengorobuna'' ('' Carassius cuvieri'') was used as the raw material, but it is now believed that these were actually ''nigorobuna''.'''' ''Funazushi'' was eaten as a substitute for medicine in the past because it contains

lactobacillus ''Lactobacillus'' is a genus of gram-positive, aerotolerant anaerobes or microaerophilic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria. Until 2020, the genus ''Lactobacillus'' comprised over 260 phylogenetically, ecologically, and metabolically div ...

, which helps to improve intestinal health. In recent years, due to the deterioration of the spawning environment in Lake Biwa and feeding damage by invasive fishes, the number of ''nigorobuna'' has decreased, and the number of households making ''funazushi'' is decreasing.

Method of manufacture

Funazushi is a specialty of Shiga Prefecture and is believed to be the oldest form of ''nare-zushi'' existing in Japan. Generally, '' nigorobuna'' with eggs are used as a raw material, but ''gengorobuna'' are also used. Its manufacturing process varies from vendor to vendor and home to home. In most modern times, the fish is salted in early spring. That is, after the scales, gills, and internal organs except for the ovaries of the raw fish are removed, the belly cavity is stuffed with salt and stored in layers in wooden vats until summer. In summer, the fishes are rinsed for desalt, dried, and placed in a wooden bucket on a bed of cooked rice. On top of that, more rice is spread, and fishes are placed again. After several layers, a drop-lid is placed on top, and a weight is placed on the lid. After this, it is stored for several months until winter to ferment. It is believed that the flavor and shelf life of ''funazushi'' is mainly imparted during this rice pickling process. The process of salting in the preliminary stage is also thought to inhibit the growth of spoilage bacteria, inhibit the progress of autolysis, and dehydrate, harden, and bleed the meat. ''Funazushi'' is a

fermented food In food processing, fermentation is the conversion of carbohydrates to Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol or Organic compound, organic acids using microorganisms—yeasts or bacteria—without an oxidizing agent being used in the reaction. Fermentation ...

that uses the action of lactic acid bacteria and yeast. Air deprivation is important for lactic acid fermentation, and water has been used to cover the top of the drop-lid. Currently, a plastic bag is placed over the bucket, the bag is filled with fishes and rice, the mouth of the bag is closed, and a drop-lid and weight are placed on the bag to keep out air without water. To make it with 1 kg per fish, one barrel contains 40 to 50 fish, 27 kg of rice and 15 kg of salt. In Shiga Prefecture, in addition to ''funazushi'' made from ''nigorobuna'', nare-zushi is also made from freshwater fish such as '' ugui'', '' hasu'', '' moroko'', '' Ayu Biwa trout'', ''

koi , or more specifically , are colored varieties of carp ('' Cyprinus'' sp.) that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens. Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of carp kept for ornamental purposes. ...

'', and ''

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning, experiential learning, or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts. The term literally means "place of the Tao, Way" in Japanese language, Japanese. History The word ''d� ...

''. ''Nare-zushi'' has been designated as Shiga's food cultural asset in Shiga Prefecture's Intangible Folk Cultural Assets in 1998.。 The decline of ''nigorobuna'', the fish used to make ''funazushi'', has become a problem, and Shiga Prefecture is working to release young fish into Lake Biwa and to conserve the

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * Re ...

community along the lake's shores.

Biochemistry

''Funazushi'' contains

organic acid An organic acid is an organic compound with acidic properties. The most common organic acids are the carboxylic acids, whose acidity is associated with their carboxyl group –COOH. Sulfonic acids, containing the group –SO2OH, are re ...

s such as

lactic acid Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has the molecular formula C3H6O3. It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as wel ...

formic acid Formic acid (), systematically named methanoic acid, is the simplest carboxylic acid. It has the chemical formula HCOOH and structure . This acid is an important intermediate in chemical synthesis and occurs naturally, most notably in some an ...

acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main compone ...

propionic acid Propionic acid (, from the Greek language, Greek words πρῶτος : ''prōtos'', meaning "first", and πίων : ''píōn'', meaning "fat"; also known as propanoic acid) is a naturally occurring carboxylic acid with chemical formula . It is a ...

, and

butyric acid Butyric acid (; from , meaning "butter"), also known under the systematic name butanoic acid, is a straight-chain alkyl carboxylic acid with the chemical formula . It is an oily, colorless liquid with an unpleasant odor. Isobutyric acid (2-met ...

. These organic acids lower the pH, which also imparts preservative properties.

History

Ancient China

The character ''zha'' "鮓," meaning "sour fish," appears in the ''

Shuowen Jiezi The ''Shuowen Jiezi'' is a Chinese dictionary compiled by Xu Shen , during the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE). While prefigured by earlier reference works for Chinese characters like the ''Erya'' (), the ''Shuowen Jiezi'' contains the ...

'' in the 2nd century. However, this book does not describe the production method, so it is unclear if it was fermented with rice like ''funazushi''. The ''

Shiming The ''Shiming'', also known as the ''Yiya'', is a Chinese dictionary that employed phonological glosses, and is believed have been composed . Because it records the pronunciation of an Eastern Han Chinese dialect, sinologists have used the ''S ...

'', written in southern China in the 3rd century, describes fermenting fish mixed with salt and rice, indicating that the basic process was already developed at this time. However, as discussed below, there is a theory that Japanese sushi was rediscovered by Japan on its own.

Ancient Japan

The relationship between the ancient Chinese ''zha'' 鮓 and the Japanese ''nare-zushi'' is unclear. In Japan, the character for "鮓" appears in the

Yōrō Code The was one iteration of several codes or governing rules compiled in early Nara period in Classical Japan. It was compiled in 718, the second year of the Yōrō regnal era by Fujiwara no Fuhito et al., but not promulgated until 757 under ...

, a law book written in the 8th century. Furthermore, the word "sushi" appears in ''

Shinsen Jikyō The is the first Japanese dictionary containing native ''kun'yomi'' "Japanese readings" of Chinese characters. The title is also written 新選字鏡 with the graphic variant ''sen'' ( 選 "choose; select; elect") for ''sen'' ( 撰 "compile; com ...

'', written in the 9th century. However, since the word "sushi" is the noun form of the adjective "sour," there is no doubt that the fish was sour, but whether it was lactic fermentation using rice is not known.

''Funazushi''

Carassius auratus grandoculis by OpenCage

''Funazushi'' was made in many parts of Japan in ancient times. Wooden tubs are now used as containers for making ''funazushi'', but until the 14th century, jar-like earthenware vessels were used. There is a legend that Toyoki Irihiko, prince of

Emperor Sujin , also known as in the , and or in the was the tenth Emperor of Japan. While Sujin is the first emperor whose existence historians widely accept, he is still referred to as a "legendary emperor" due to a lack of information available and beca ...

, a legendary figure sometimes attributed to the 3rd or 4th century, was offered ''funazushi'' by the villagers when he stopped by today's

Moriyama, Shiga 270px, Lake Biwa from Moriyama is a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 85,485 in 34,366 households and a population density of 1533.63 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Mo ...

. The words ''funazushi'' and ''sushi-funa'' are found in the

Prince Nagaya Nagaya ( ') (684 – 20 March 729) was a politician of the Nara period and an imperial prince of Japan, a son of Prince Takechi (grandson of Emperor Tenmu). His father was Prince Takechi and his mother Princess Minabe (a daughter of Emperor ...

(684 – 20 March 729)'s palace ''

Mokkan are wooden tablets found at Japanese archaeological sites. Most of the tablets date from the mid-7th to mid-8th century, but some are as late as the early modern period. They have been found in sites across Japan, but mostly around the old capita ...

'' and

Nijō Street Nijō Street (二条通にじょうどおり ''Nijō dōri'') is a major street that crosses the center of the city of Kyoto from east to west, running for approximately 3.5 km from Shirakawa Street (east) to the Nijō Castle (west). Hi ...

''Mokkan''. The ''

Engishiki The is a Japanese book of laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ''Engishi ...

'', an administrative manual written in the 10th century, describes how ''nare-zushi'', a type of fish produced in various parts of Japan, was collected in the capital as a tax. Twentieth-century Japanese food historian Osamu Shinoda (篠田統) considers Japanese sushi to have developed independently in Japan, since ''Engishiki'' does not mention carp sushi, which is common in China. The same ''Engishiki'' also states that the central government provided containers, cloth,

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a plant in the botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial and consumable use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest ...

, rice, salt, and

soybeans The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of f ...

to Chikuma-kuriya (now

Maibara, Shiga is a city in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 38,259 in 14761 households and a population density of 150 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Maibara is located in northcentral Shiga Pre ...

) in

, which is still known today as a producer of ''funazushi'', which were then pickled in soy sauce (but not the soy sauce of today), salted, and made into ''sushi-funa''. From this description, it is thought that the prototype of ''funazushi'', in which crucian carp is lacto-fermented with rice, was already in existence at this time. The 11th century ''

Shinsarugakuki is an 11th-century Japanese work of fiction written by Fujiwara no Akihira (989–1066). The work consists of an introduction and twenty-eight short chapters and portrays a '' sarugaku'' performance took place in Kyoto and the family of a militar ...

'' mentions Ōmi when it comes to crucian carp. It is not certain when the use of crucian carp with ovaries began as an ingredient for ''funazushi'', but the ''

Konjaku Monogatarishū , also known as the , is a Japanese collection of over one thousand tales written during the late Heian period (794–1185). The entire collection was originally contained in 31 volumes, of which 28 remain today. The volumes cover various tales f ...

'' of the 12th century mentions pickled crucian carp with ovaries began in vinegar. However, until the 19th century, ovaries were often absent. In the 14th century, the process of making wooden tabs/barrels were developed. Tubs were also used in the production of ''funazushi'', but the date of their initiation is unknown. New wood was preferred for sake barrels, while old wood was preferred for ''funazushi''. Because funazushi tubs were small, sake barrels were disassembled and reassembled. In 1483 and 1485, Chikamoto's diary mentions a gift of ''funazushi'' from the

Rokkaku clan The was a Japanese samurai clan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)">DF 53 of 80">"Rokkaku" at ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 49 [PDF 53 of 80/nowiki> retrieved 2013-4-3 ...

based in the

Oda Nobunaga, who helped end the Sengoku period of Japanese civil war in the 16th century, was killed by his subordinate Akechi Mitsuhide. There are various theories as to the cause of the murder, but one theory is that Mitsuhide held a grudge against Akechi Mitsuhide, who prepared the dinner hosted by Oda Nobunaga just before the murder, because Nobunaga complained that the fish he was served was rotten. ''Funazushi'' was also served at this meal. In the

, which began in the 17th century, ''funazushi'' was made in Ōmi Province (Shiga Prefecture) from crucian carp caught in the spring season and red-leaf crucian carp in the fall and winter. However, it is thought that the fermentation process of ''funazushi'' made from red-leaf crucian carp that did not undergo the high temperatures of the summer season was slow and gradually fell into disuse. The current "funazushi" of Shiga Prefecture is made from spring crucian carp. The 17th century cookbook ''Gorui Nichiyou Ryouri Shou'' (合類日用料理抄) describes how to make "sushi from funa in Ōmi". : In winter, the fish is gutted through the gill holes, the head is removed, folded over with salt in a container and pickled in salt. After that,

black rice Black rice, also known as purple rice or forbidden rice, is a range of rice types of the species '' Oryza sativa'', some of which are glutinous rice. There are several varieties of black rice available today. These include Indonesian black ri ...

is cooked with less water, mixed with salt, and placed in a container with the fish, with a drop lid and a weight on top. After about 20 days, lighten the weight a little. After about 70 days, they can be eaten. If you put heavy weights on top of the lid after even out the load, and store salt water on top of the lid (to keep the air out,) the bones will be tender and taste better if you leave it on until the following fall. The water on the lid is changed daily. The fact that production begins in winter is the exact opposite of today, when production begins in summer. In addition, the current method of preparing ''funazushi'' is not exactly the same as that practiced in ancient times, as in many modern cases the weights are gradually increased. In addition, literature from this period often refers to Ōmi crucian carp as ''gengorobuna''. However, this is because many of the crucian carp caught in Lake Biwa were sold under the name of ''gengorobuna'', which was considered a luxury at the time, and it was not until the 1920s that ''gengorobuna'' and ''nigorobuna'' became generally distinguished from each other.

Yosa Buson was a Japanese poet and Painting, painter of the Edo period. He lived from 1716 – January 17, 1784. Along with Matsuo Bashō and Kobayashi Issa, Buson is considered among the greatest poets of the Edo Period. He is also known for completing ...

, an 18th century poet, left

haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...

such as "can see clouds over

Hikone Castle is an Edo-period Japanese castle located in the city of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It is considered the most significant historical site in Shiga. The site has been protected as a National Historic Site since 1951. Hikone is one of only ...

while trying to eat funazushi" (鮒鮓や彦根が城に雲かかる), "when in a field in the summer, realize whom haven't seen funazushi for a while" (鮒鮓の便りも遠き夏野哉). In August 1788,

Shiba Kōkan , born Andō Kichirō (安藤吉次郎) or Katsusaburō (勝三郎), was a Japanese painter and printmaker of the Edo period, famous both for his Western-style ''yōga'' paintings, in imitation of Dutch oil painting styles, methods, and themes, ...

, a painter, stopped in

Hino, Shiga file:Blumen Hugel, Nishioji, Hino-cho, Shiga-ken, ブルーメの丘 - panoramio (2).jpg, 260px, Blumen Hugel is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Gamō District, Shiga, Gamō District, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated ...

, where he ate ''funazushi'' that had been preserved for three years. Otsu Gyosho Tokaido

In 1896, Japanese poet

Masaoka Shiki , pen-name of Masaoka Noboru (正岡升), was a Japanese poet, author, and literary critic in Meiji period Japan. Shiki is regarded as a major figure in the development of modern haiku poetry, credited with writing nearly 20,000 stanzas during ...

wrote a haiku as "while eating funazushi, Seta became evening and the bell of

Mii-dera , also known as just Onjo-ji, or , is a Buddhist temple in Japan located at the foot of Mount Hiei, in the city of Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture. It is a short distance from both Kyoto, and Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. The head temple of t ...

temple was heard." (鮒鮓や瀬田の夕照三井の鐘) In an essay titled "A Drop of Bokuju," he also wrote a complaint that "people these days use words derived from ''funazushi'' without knowing how to make it." A book published in 1904 states, "Add a little salt to ''funazushi'' in a soup dish, pour in hot water, cover with a lid, and after a while it becomes a delicious soup. In an essay published in 1916, the author gave his landlord some ''gengorobuna funazushi'' from his hometown, which pleased the landlord, who loved to drink. However, when the author served it to his friends, they all refused to eat it because of the smell. So the author put the ''funazushi'' on top of rice, covered it with hot bancha green tea, and ate it in

chazuke ''Chazuke'' ( 茶漬け, ちゃづけ) or ''ochazuke'' ( お茶漬け, from ( o)''cha'' ' tea' + ''tsuke'' 'submerge') is a simple Japanese dish made by pouring green tea, In 1935, the commercial production of ''funazushi'' was Yasu, Inukami, Takashima, Kurita, Gamo, Kanzaki, and Higashiazai, in that order. In the 1950s, containers for making ''funa zushi'' switched from wooden tubs to plastic. Maintenance became easier and fermentation became more stable.

References

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