Japan is a country composed of four large large islands and thousands of other small islands, with volcanic and mountainous terrain and a climate of heavy rain and typhoons, which made it difficult to raise cattle and other large animals.
In this way, the Japanese people lived for a long time with a shortage of nutrients, having fish and seafood as their main source of food, developing fishing techniques in addition to hunting since the dawn of Eastern civilization.
In the 3rd century BC (Yauoi period), the Japanese learned from the Korean people the technique of growing rice, which complemented their diet as a carbohydrate base.
The cultivation of rice also led to the creation of pigs and chickens that needed little space and were also fed with the remains of rice, improving even more food for the Japanese.
However, around 600 a.C., Emperor Temmu prohibited, under penalty of death, the consumption of pork, chicken, horse or ox, with only the consumption of wild boar. With the development of Buddhism, this decree took force and lasted until the middle of the 16th century with the arrival of the Portuguese.
Thus, fishing in Japan was essential for the survival of this ancient people, who created several fishing techniques and developed many others, in search of food and also leisure, having more experience than any other people, in this activity, because feed yourself! Feed your families. They needed to fish at all times of the year. The fish could not be missing.
While the men fished, the women harvested shellfish on the rocks by the sea. Later, the men, impressed by the amount of shellfish that their wives and daughters collected, began to take them to the fisheries on the high seas, suggesting there the “Ama-San” who dived in deep waters and without equipment in search of fish. more food and today pearl collectors are respected in the city of Toba.
Today it is in Tokyo, capital of Japan, where you can find the best restaurants in the world. Tokyo is the record-breaking capital in Michelin stars and still keeps rice (Gohan) fish and seafood as its food base. The 2019 edition of the Michelin Guide awarded stars to 230 restaurants in Tokyo, 13 of which are three stars (the highest score), 52 are two stars and 165 are awarded one star.
In Tokyo and all over Japan, we find international restaurants where we can choose what we want and eat abundantly, but rice and fish are still the mainstay of Japanese families and traditional Japanese restaurants know how to prepare them like no one else.
This mastery of Japanese cuisine is added to all the care and respect that the Japanese people still had for fishing, fish and the sea, with full awareness of its importance in the existence of its people.
The fishing articles industry is highly developed and invests heavily in materials research and the development of baits and equipment. Engineers and artisans work together on these creations and the most established brands still work with artisanal production, such as Fisherman, Carpenter, Hammer Head, Seven Seas, among others.
In Japan, fish that will not be eaten fresh is always returned to the sea by the sport fisherman, who is fully aware of the need to preserve species as a means of preserving his own people and food culture. There are also strict quotas and laws on which fish can be caught at each time of the year, always guaranteeing the abundance of all species.
The Japanese sport fisherman also respects the fish that will feed his family. As soon as the fish is caught, first it is checked that it is not forbidden fishing, the small ones and the matrixes are discarded and then the chosen fish is killed quickly by the Ikijime system, with quick death and without stress, making the meat more soft and tasty.
In the United States, The Fishermans Hut, an importer and distributor of sport fishing products founded by Mr Yamada, and located in Tampa, Florida, represents several Japanese sport fishing brands and offers workshops aimed at spreading the knowledge and techniques of its fellow citizens.