An ode to tuna

Tuna is an important fish food in Japan. Japan is one of the greatest consumers of tuna in the world. Recent statistics indicate that Japan consumption makes up more than 27% of world tuna consumption. Apart from fishing it locally, Japan also imports approximately 40% of the world's frozen tuna. Whatever way you look at it - a lot of tuna is eaten in Japan! 

The Japan Bonito and Tuna Fisheries Cooperative Federation established October 10th as Tuna Day in 1986. The idea at the time was to get more people to eat tuna and around this date have promotions on tuna. I don't know if they had less tuna consumption in the 80s, but its hard to imagine that the demand for tuna has ever been low in Japan. It is probably the one of the most popular fish used in sushi and sashimi and is also used in cooking too.

The date of the anniversary was chosen due to a poem in the Man'yōshū, the oldest collection of Japanese waka (poetry in classical Japanese) still in existence. On this day in 726 a court poet Yamabe no Akahito accompanied Emperor Shōmu on a journey and composed a descriptive poem of tuna fishermen; an ode if you will, to tuna!