【Reading】ねたちょう

【English Name】Neta-chō (Material Notebook)

"Netacho" (topping notebook) is a word that originally means a notebook used for recording materials or subject matter. "Neta" is a jargon term reversing "tane" (seed/material), and in the sushi industry it mainly refers to the seafood and other ingredients placed on top of the shari.

At sushi restaurants, the "netacho" is sometimes used as a ledger for recording such things as the types and origins of procurable seafood, the arrival status by season, and information on suppliers. It can be called a practical tool that helps the chef grasp daily procurement and the changing of the seasons and put it to use in planning menus and preparation.

Outside the sushi industry, on the other hand, it is widely known as a notebook in which comedians jot down their material and ideas, and is an expression also used among broadcast writers and planning professionals. While in the sushi world "neta" means ingredients, in the entertainment world it means "material for a story"—a difference, yet both share the point of deriving from the reversal of "tane."

It is one good example of how the word "neta," born within the fucho (jargon) culture of sushi restaurants, became widely permeated into general society as well.