Microseason: Mountain Stream Freezes
WINTER
DEEP CHILL
MOUNTAIN STREAM FREEZES
25 - 29 January
When the rivers and lakes freeze over, it’s sign of wakasagi smelt season. Drilling holes to access the small fish beneath the ice. Often only about 15cm in length. Most commonly, wakasagi is simply prepared grilled or lightly deep fried, and can be eaten whole. As such it serves as an important source of calcium through the deep Winter months, particularly in areas such as Hokkaido, Nagano, and Yamanashi.
Wakasagi is written as literally "public fish". The origins of the appointed characters are rooted in the Edo period when Naoyoshi Shinjo, the lord of the Aso domain, presented grilled wakasagi to Tokugawa Iemitsu, the ruling shogun at the time. The shogun was delighted, and this practice continued, leading to wakasagi being referred to as the “ the fish of the shogunate”. Which was then shorted to “public fish”.
Wakasagi fishing was closely managed by the domain and held significant economic importance in what is now the Ibaraki area. Natively, wakasagi is much like salmon. Meaning it is a river fish that makes its way into the ocean to mature, only to return to the river to spawn. However, due to its growing position as a robust revenue stream, wakasagi were introduced to lakes all over the country. And wakasagi are now most known in Japan as lake fish. Due to the success in transporting wakasagi eggs and introducing them to new ecosystems, wakasagi became a key species in the exploration of aquaculture and trade.
Wakasagi is considered a symbol of clean freshwater ecosystems. Its presence in a lake or river is said to be an indicator of water quality. And the graceful wakasagi schools are a common motif in Japanese literature and the arts like ukiyo-e, lacquerware, and ceramics, symbolizing purity, unity, and the ephemerality of nature. In feudal Japan, this imagery of unity was sometimes referenced to highlight the ideal of a well-ordered society working together toward common goals. Simultaneously, poets have likened the small fish swimming together in unison to fleeting moments of joy. A classic example of mono no awaré.
Photo credit: COOP Travel