Created and produced by John Daub

ONLY in JAPAN

Good morning from Otsu city in Shiga prefecture

This is Ishiyama Station

and I've come here for something a lot stronger

than day old sushi

something that I would have eaten anyway

This - is year old sushi

It's a local delicacy of Shiga prefecture

a lot of my Japanese friends have told me the horrors

of it's smell and how strong it tastes

and how I won't be able to stand it

And they might be right

but I'm going to give it a try anyway

It's called FUNAZUSHI

and can be found in Shiga prefecture

located in the center of the country

wrapped around Lake Biwa

Japan's fish water lake

Otsu is at the bottom of the lake

just a 10 minute train ride from Kyoto Station

The lake is big and beautiful.

Shiga prefecture wrap around it

Being close to Kyoto means Otsu has got a ton of ancient temples,

Ishiyama-dera is one of them

featured in THE TALE of GENJI written in the year 1008.

Also featured in the Hiroshige's ukiyo-e print titled

AUTUMN MOON AT ISHIYAMA overlooking Lake Biwa.

And Near Ishiyama-dera temple is this store called SHISEI AN

which makes traditional funazushi.

I met the chef at the door!

KANTA INOUE

He's only 24 years old and already a master at the craft,

making Funazushi since he was 13.

On the side of the store are buckets full of fermenting NIGORO BUNA fish.

You can preserve the fish for up to few years

but one year is enough.

He carts a full bucket into the store to open.

One the biggest questions marks I had was –

how bad does it smell?

How is it? Me too. No idea!

Funazushi is infamous as being one of the stinkiest foods in Japan.

The smell?

It was strong but not overpowering.

No problem!

It doesn't stink, does it?

Not really. Not much at all.

That's really strange!

Inoue-san dug deep into the bucket to find a good one.

The fermented rice has turned to pulp,

the lactic acid bacteria helping to preserve the fish.

It looks gross and may even smell a little questionable for food,

but there's a lot of good stuff in this sushi.

Nigoro Buna or white crucian carp has soft bones and preserves well in this method,

locked fermenting under the weight of a stone for a year.

Eyes and mouth

So ー how is Funazushi made?

The fish are caught in season before laying eggs.

The secret to keeping the smell down is to scrub and clean the fish well,

removing all scales.

Nigoro Buna's scales are easy to remove compared to many other fish.

When cleaned and rinsed,

Inoue-san brings the fish outside to prepare the fermentation process.

The Nigoro Buna are ready for the next step.

In the bucket, a base of rice is added.

Inoue-san then stuffs the rice in the head of the fish.

This will create lactic acid bacteria

considered a good bacteria

that will preserve the fish.

Close it up here.

It's just like that.

He adds another layer of rice to the prepared fish.

You can put more fish on top

With more layers, it gradually gets higher

One year in there?

Yes.

A year later, it's ready to be eaten.

Here's the year old fish Inoue-san has selected

for my eating challenge today.

In the kitchen, he cuts it thin

It packs a strong kick so a little goes a long way.

That spark of orange are fish eggs

which adds color to the dish.

The bones have softened and the fish's meat has been preserved well.

Inoue-san even made a mini nigiri sushi for me -

raw fish on rice like this.

A little garnish and the plate is now complete.

THE YEAR OLD

FUNAZUSHI

EATING CHALLENGE

Is unrefrigerated sushi safe to eat a year later?

Man vs food

Inoue-san brings out the tray of year old sushi.

The contents are confirmed.

This is Shiga Precture's famous FUNAZUSHI

Right here:

The usually way Funazushi is prepared

Near by:

An unusual miniature nigiri style sushi

and at the end ー

Nigoro Buna preserved one year in a barrel,

still smoothered in fermented salty rice.

One year in there

ONE YEAR

Total one year

Once again, my thoughts go back to how normal sushi is throw out

after sitting out for only a day

but this has been around for an entire year,

4 seasons!

52 weeks!

The taste doesn't hit you right away so –

wait for it.

Wait for it.

There it is.

It's a little sour.

I take that back!

It's freaking sour!

I have some sake here.

I'd love some. Please!

Kanpai!

It's really good with sake

It really is.

Funazushi is really sour!

It seems when you drink sake

that sour taste decreases little by little

Sake goes well with it, does it?

Yeah

I'm pretty surprised because

my image before I started

before my quest to eat the funazushi was that

I was going to absolutely hate it

and it was going to be something that ー

was too strong for me to handle

Yeah! It's strong!

It really is, but ー

It's not as strong as I thought it would be

my expectations for the strength of Funazushi was

way high so ー

the first time you eat Funazushi I think

there is an initial shock because

you've never had this flavor before

it's not an easy flavour to describe

It's very sour, like cheese.

Like sour cheese or ー

like the saltiness of blue cheese

That's right

Instagram: onlyinjapantv

Kind of like a blue cheese sourness

to it. Maybe like yogurt

that's a couple days to old.

Something like this. But it's not ...

It's not bad!

It might be sour but ー

Depending on the maker,

it can be even more sour!

Smell even stronger.

Normally, no one eats it like this.

That's right. Not like this.

It's a “John Special“

Yes. Yes. Yes :)

Thank you! haha

That's raises the question

What is sushi?

There are generally two categories of sushi:

Haya-zushi (or fast sushi)

and Nare-zushi, the ancient form originating in SE Asia.

Nigiri Sushi, a type of Hayasushi,

a slice of raw fish on vinegar rice

is what I know well

Like this one!

But Nigiri Sushi didn't come about until the early 1800's

– it could be made quickly and enjoyed with rice,

a sort of fast food –

while Nerasushi dates back about 1000 years,

funazushi a type of that ancient variety,

fermented for a year, the rice a preserving agent -

and still made in the traditional way around Lake Biwa

and Shiga prefecture.

So this is ancient cuisine,

a historically important food for Japan

A dish to be respected

It came from S Asia and China

together with rice

and the culture of Narezushi which you ferment it

they existed all around Japan

using products from the sea

Hokkaido had Izushi type

But why would Funazushi be so popular?

The value was high

The reason is the water of Lake Biwa

and the Nigoro Buna fish from this lake

and the tasty Omi-mai (rice) from Shiga Prefecture

the beautiful water of Biwako

I believe these are the three reasons why

Funazaushi became popular

How did you hear about Funazushi & any health benefits?

What I heard from mu grandmother was that

there were a lot of fish called “Nigoro Funa”

They only live in Lake Biwa

caught only here

and it's great for Funazushi

Sift bones and the scales come off easily

That is why Funazushi can mature in a year

The fish could be caught anywhere in the lake

Literally lying around in the water

That - and the skill for making Funazushi

and since there was no refrigeration back then

they would press a heavy stone on the rice

and when you compress it like you saw before,

the air can't get in and

it can last up to one to two years,

That's how I believe Funazushi spread out

around Shiga prefecture as a preserved food

They didn't have refrigerators a long time ago

That's right

They used rice instead of a refrigerator

Eating it, when you caught a cold, you got well

When you had a stomachache, it worked since

it's made through Lactic Acid Fermentation.

So there you have it! The legend of Funazushi

Yeah, this is a local delicacy of Shiga Prefecture

it is fermented ー but I have to tell you something

It's not that bad!

Only 10 minutes from Kyoto lies the origins of sushi

ANCIENT FOOD!

and an eating challenge

How string is Funazushi?

You'll have to visit Shiga Prefecture to try for yourself

Year old sushi ー you've been challenged!

Next time: Let's officially look behind the scenes at Shueisha's SHONEN JUMP manga series

as it celebrates it's 50th anniversary.

It's a real glimpse at this culturally important manga

known for One Piece, Captain Tsubasa, Dragon Ball,

Naruto, and much more,

with interviews from editors and artists.

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Mata ne~