[Baien Gyohin Zusho] (25) Pacific Saury / Dace

Pacific Saury (Sanma)

This fish is abundant in Boshu and Soshu, and is sent to distant places after being salted. When fresh, the taste is not good. Therefore, it is rarely sent to distant places. It is rare to see it. I finally obtained a fresh one this year.

|In general, fish that taste good when salted do not taste good when fresh. |Trout and |salmon are the same.

* "Boshu" is |Awa Province.
* "Soshu" is |Hitachi Province.
* "Finally obtained it" means I finally managed to get it.
* "Not good" means it is not suitable.

Dace (Sai)

"Yamato Honzo" Sai
Also called Maruta Dialect of Bando
Ida Dialect of Tsukushi and Kyoto

Caught in large numbers in the Tama River in Bushu, the Tone River in Joshu, and the Arakawa River. Indeed, they are found in various large rivers. Small ones are called Ugoi. |Grass carp is a different species.

Those caught in large numbers by fishermen in Lake Biwa and Lake Suwa differ greatly in shape. They are called |Uguh. Maruta is very similar to |sweetfish. It appears in "Kochu Sanbutsu Sho". Could the Gyo fish be another type?

* "Bando" is an ancient name for the Kanto region.
* "Bushu" is |Musashi Province.
* "Joshu" is |Kozuke Province.
* "Have it" means it exists.
* "Very" means well.
* "Kochu Bussho" is thought to refer to "Kochu Sanbutsu Zusho".
* "Could it be" is a rhetorical question.

It is also said that the grass carp is |Mizusake, and the Uguh is a different species. Its shape resembles a carp. Fishermen call this fish Sai. ● Upon consideration, the Sai is a |Nigoi (Japanese barbel). Its shape resembles a carp. In the "Honzo Komoku", it is considered a white fish. Its shape differs greatly from this fish, and this fish resembles a |sweetfish. It is likely the Kazurasu that lives in Lake Biwa. It should be compared with the white fish of Shimojo.

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Author's Note: "Baien Gyohin Zusho" is a fish encyclopedia by the late Edo period naturalist, Mouri Baien. Since the explanatory text is primarily in classical Chinese, there are many kanji that cannot be displayed on a computer, and the text includes kaeriten (reversion marks) and okurigana. For readability, kanji that cannot be displayed on a computer are represented as □, and in the case of names, they are shown in the form [■ is 〇+〇] whenever possible.

Also, the kaeriten and okurigana for the classical Chinese are written in katakana and Chinese numerals, and the furigana and okurigana are written in hiragana.
For the literature cited in this work, please refer to this note. → [Baien Gyohin Zusho] Literature Summary

● indicates characters that could not be deciphered. I will update this as needed when new characters are deciphered or when I notice typos or misreadings. For details, please read the "Self-Introduction / Disclaimer" section. 📖