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Sea Bream (tai)

In the field of cuisine, a first-rate fish in both appearance and taste, often used in celebratory meals

     Tai (sea bream) (tai in Japanese) is a generic name for several species of marine fish in the family Sparidae, including. It includes the red sea bream, the yellowback sea bream, the crimson sea bream, the Japanese black sea bream, and the goldlined sea bream, and other species, but it is generally accepted to mean exclusively the red sea bream exclusively. Its Sea breams have a body that is flat, oval-shaped, and light -red, with a scattering of small bright green and blue spots. They have The sea bream has well-developed spines on in their dorsal its dorsal fin and anal fins, and can reach over 80cm centimeters in length. They are bottom dwellers in coastal areas of the ocean It inhabits water layers near the bottom of the ocean in coastal areas in tropical and temperate zones, and is are caught using methods such methods as pole-and-line fishing, longline fishing, and dragnet fishing.

       In Japanese cuisine, the red sea bream is regarded favored as the king of fish. The beautiful color of the red sea bream's beautiful color is associated with good luck, and the fish's Japanese name tai is associated with the word medetai (congratulatory), so it is included in celebratory meals. the so-called "iwai-zen" ("celebratory meal"), served with the word play that rhymes the Japanese name of the fish (tai) with the word medetai, which means "auspicious" and "celebratory." Sea bream is in season from most delicious in winter and through spring. In the spring, just before it lays its eggs, it months, just before egg-laying, in particular, the sea bream, then called sakuradai (cherry sea bream) and hanamidai (cherry-blossom viewing sea bream), puts on some extra fat, which makes it especially delicious then. Sea bream of these months are called sakuradai (cherry-blossom sea bream) and hanamidai (cherry-blossom-season sea bream). Sea bream is served cut up as sashimi, or grilled with salt, (shio-yaki), as a thin soup of sea bream stewed in seawater to make a thin soup, (ushio-jiru), or cooked with rice. (taimeshi).

       There are several hundred species of fish that include the character鯛 word tai in their name, such as ako-dai (rose fish), kinme-dai (splendid alfonsino), and kintoki-dai (red bigeye), but many of them do not belong to the Sparidae family.

       There are numerous cases of Many sea bream bones have been excavated from shell mounds that date back to the Jomon period (eighth millennium to fourth century circa 14,000 BC to 10th century BC), which suggests that the sea bream has been used as food since ancient times. In Engi shiki ("Procedures of the Engi Era"), which was compiled during the Heian period (794-1185), the sea bream is described as an featured as expensive tribute an example of a refined present to the imperial court. Starting In the Edo period (1603-1868), a custom emerged, mainly in the Kansai region, to tie the tails of two small sea breams together with a straw rope and hang them as a decorations for festivals and wedding parties.

       In the first volume of the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), pertaining to the age of the gods, we encounter the myth of Kamiyo no Maki ("Volume of the Age of the Gods"), the first fascicle of Kojiki ("Records of Ancient Matters"), features the legend of Yamasachi-hiko (a deity of the bounty of the mountains) and his older brother Umisachi-hiko (a deity of the bounty of the sea). According to the mythlegend, Yamasachi-hiko lost a precious highly valued fish hook that he borrowed from Umisachi-hiko, so he went to look for it. Eventually, he found the hook stuck in the throat of a red sea bream. In another bit of cultural lore, Ebisu, the ancient patron of fishermen, who later became one of the Shichi-fuku-jin ("Seven Gods of Good Fortune, Luck"), is often depicted as carrying a fishing rod in his right hand and holding a sea bream under his left arm.

Related People, Things and Events

Books

Sea bream cuisine and flavor

Related Works

Sea bream drawings on clothing, craft works, etc.

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Past Exhibitions

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Institutions Holding Related Materials

  • マダイが群生している場所として有名な千葉県鴨川市沖の「鯛の浦」を周る遊覧船。

  • マダイの常設展示がある。所在地は大阪府大阪市港区。

  • 館内「かごしまの海」コーナーにマダイが展示されている。所在地は鹿児島県鹿児島市。

  • The Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art stands as the nexus of art advancement in Japan, charged with fostering the creation and development of art and culture in Japan, and the cultivation of aesthetic awareness among the Japanese people. Through its six art museums — The National Museums of Modern Art, Tokyo and Kyoto, National Film Archive of Japan, the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, the National Museum of Art, Osaka, and the National Art Center, Tokyo — the National Museum of Art carries out diverse and distinctive activities that fully utilize the unique character of each member museum.

  • As Japan’s representative museum, Tokyo National Museum collects, preserves, displays, and researches the cultural properties of Asia with a focus on Japan, and also provides educational programs.

  • Kyoto National Museum collects, preserves, displays, researches and provides educational programs focusing on cultural properties from Heian- through to Edo- period Japan, when the capital was located there.

  • Kyushu National Museum explores how Japan’s history of cultural exchange with the rest of Asia has impacted the formation of its culture. To that end, we engage in the collection, preservation, exhibition, and research of cultural properties, in addition to providing educational outreach to the local community.

External Links

  • 国立研究開発法人水産研究・教育機構の旧組織水産庁水産資料館所蔵の資料をデジタル化し公開。「さかなつくし」(歌川広重画、大黒屋版、明治44(1911)年)を閲覧できる。

  • 広報紙「FRANEWS」「おさかな瓦版」(国立研究開発法人水産研究・教育機構発行)をデジタル化し公開。水産に関する様々な特集を組んでいる。「FRANEWS」vol.98(2020年11月)・vol.96(2020年7月)、「おさかな瓦版」vol.46(2012年3月)・vol.32(2009年12月)に鯛の特集がある。

  • 「栄養と料理」(女子栄養大学出版部)をデジタル化し公開。フリーキーワードからレシピ等が検索できる。

  • 食文化に関係する錦絵を閲覧できる。

References

  1. 望月賢二 監修,魚類文化研究会, 雅麗 編,柏書房
  2. 能勢幸雄 [ほか]編,東京堂出版
  3. 平凡社 編,平凡社
  4. 尚学図書・言語研究所 編,小学館
  5. 金田禎之 著,東京堂出版