In the ancient Chinese text San hai jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas), written over two millennia ago, it is said that eating fugu is fatal. (Courtesy Sumiki Hikari) The Thrill of a Brush with Death The agreement brought an end to the 1894–95 Sino-Japanese War.Ī re-creation of the room where the treaty was signed at the Treaty of Shimonoseki Museum, near Shunpanrō. In 1895, the establishment played a part in East Asian history when it was the venue for the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki by Itō and Chinese politician Li Hongzhang.
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He also granted the very first license to serve it to Shunpanrō, considered the finest restaurant in Shimonoseki. Itō enjoyed the dish so much that he lifted the ban on eating fugu in 1888. Although it had been prohibited by law since the rule of Toyotomi Hideyoshi three centuries earlier, locals had perfected the preparation method. The flustered restaurant proprietor’s wife decided to serve Itō blowfish. The sea was rough that day, so it was difficult to procure any good fish. During one trip back home, he visited a restaurant called Shunpanrō. Itō Hirobumi (1841–1909), Japan’s first prime minister, was born in the area. From ancient times the area flourished through trade with China and Korea and was known as the “Kyoto of the West.” Yamaguchi Prefecture lies at the western tip of the country’s main island of Honshū and is surrounded by water on three sides.
Shimonoseki became Japan’s fugu center in the late nineteenth century. Chefs would not allow this to happen today. Befuddled by numbness and alcohol, Bandō consumed too much, overshooting his tolerance level and succumbing to death. The poisonous elements made the tongue smart and go numb-sensations to savor while drinking. Many gourmets of the time, however, dipped fugu sashimi into soy sauce mixed with fugu liver instead of wasabi. Probably many people now would find it difficult to understand how he considered toxic tiger blowfish liver to be a delicacy. The case of Bandō Mitsugorō VIII was different. The vast majority of blowfish poisoning incidents in Japan occur when amateurs prepare the dish.
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Fugu served in a professional establishment very rarely causes poisoning. After toxic elements are removed in processing, the fish, rendered harmless, are shipped nationwide.įor this reason, the kind of scene depicted in the film is now almost unimaginable. We take pride in preparing blowfish safely.”įour in five Japanese fugu caught in the wild or farm-raised-mainly in Nagasaki Prefecture-come to Yamaguchi, because of the numerous local processing companies. Ueno says, “There are very tight standards in Yamaguchi. Would-be fugu cooks are required to get licenses in many Japanese prefectures, including Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Ōita, Tokyo, and Osaka. There have been no poisoning cases in Yamaguchi Prefecture for decades. (Courtesy Shimonoseki municipal government) Formerly a fugu wholesaler, Fuku no Seki is now the parent organization for processing company Daifuku, so Ueno knows his blowfish.Ī fugu auction. “It’s total superstition!” says Ueno Ken’ichirō, owner of the Shimonoseki restaurant Fuku no Seki, which specializes in blowfish-known in the local dialect as fuku. Is sand burial really a good way to cure fugu poisoning? People take their life in their hands when eating fugu. These spread to the whole body, in serious cases leading to death by respiratory failure. (There are also cases of fugu poisoning in Taiwan, where a total of 11 people died in 15 incidents taking place from 1991 to 2011.) Blowfish contain tetrodotoxin, which causes symptoms of numbness and paralysis 20 minutes to three hours after ingestion.
In a typical year, some 50 people suffer fugu poisoning in around 30 incidents, some of which result in fatalities. This raised the profile of fugu and its life-threatening properties.Īccording to the Ministry of Health, even today half of all food poisoning deaths in Japan come from eating blowfish. Two years before its release, the kabuki star Bandō Mitsugorō VIII died from poisoning after overindulgence in his beloved dish of torafugu (tiger blowfish) liver at a Kyoto restaurant. The film takes place in my hometown of Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture, the fugu capital of Japan. The protagonist, played by Sugawara Bunta, feels his whole body going numb after partaking of the fish-famously poisonous if prepared incorrectly-and submits to the surprising traditional remedy.
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There is a scene in a 1977 instalment of the Torakku yarō ( Truck Guys) series where the main character is buried in sand up to his neck as a cure for the effects of eating fugu blowfish.
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