Begin Japanology
Season 4 Episode 41 - Red Sea Bream
The red sea bream is one of Japan's favorite fish. People have been eating it since ancient times. Long considered a lucky fish, red sea bream is essential to Japanese festivities and rituals, from New Year's feasts to the ceremonial meal that babies eat on the 100th day after their birth. Historically, red sea bream's popularity really took off when the samurai gained power. Its barbed fins and tough scales evoked samurai armor. Veteran fishermen still catch red sea bream with hand-pulled lines, but actually, 80 percent of the red sea bream consumed in Japan are farm-raised. Farmed red sea bream have long been considered inferior to wild ones. But fish farms have begun breeding sea bream that can hold their own. One key is keeping the fish from getting sunburned! On this edition of BEGIN Japanology, our theme is the red sea bream. We'll find out how this fish became so important in Japan's cuisine and culture.
Episodes in Season 4
Mochi Rice Cake
28 min
Watches and Clocks
28 min
Fugu Blowfish
28 min
Haneda Airport
28 min
Kagura Dances
28 min
Snow
28 min
Pollen Allergy
28 min
Sashimono Woodwork
28 min
Cranes
28 min
Kitchen Knives
28 min
Fishing
28 min
Armour
28 min
Judo
28 min
The Life of Taro Okamoto
28 min
The Life of Osamu Dazai
28 min
The Life of Kenzo Tange
28 min
The Life of Hideko Maehata
28 min
Toilets
28 min
Lifts
28 min
Motorcycles
28 min
Unagi Eel
28 min
Japanophiles - Ilan Yanizky
28 min
Japanophiles - Silvain Guignard
28 min
Japanophiles - Stéphane Danton
28 min
Japanophiles - Dorothy Feibleman
28 min
Plastic Food Samples
28 min
Insects
28 min
Traditional Japanese Mathematics
28 min
Bicycles
28 min
Chusonji
28 min
Seaweed
28 min
Charcoal
28 min
Rain
28 min
Golf
28 min
Shipbuilding
28 min
Japanophiles - Bruce Huebner
28 min
Japanophiles - Noelke Muho
28 min
Japanophiles - Matt Alt
28 min
Karaoke
28 min
Holidays
28 min
Red Sea Bream
28 min
Shopping Streets
28 min
Chickens and Eggs
28 min
