【Reading】しゅん

【English Name】Seasonal Prime

Shun—a concept unique to Japanese food culture, expressing the period in the year when the flavor and quality of an ingredient reach their peak. There is no exact equivalent in the English-speaking world, with only approximate expressions such as "in season."

This word has three facets. The first is the "hashiri" (the season's first produce), which reaches the market ahead of the season. The second is the period when the volume of catch or harvest becomes greatest, and the third is the period when the taste is finest. What should be grasped here is the point that the period of abundant catch and the peak of deliciousness do not necessarily coincide. Fish that gather toward the coast to breed are caught in large quantities, but because they expend physical strength on reproductive activity, the quality of their flesh is prone to decline. Red sea bream (madai) and Spanish mackerel (sawara), too, which appear in abundance in spring, only see the fullness of their fat rise once summer arrives.

The character "shun" originally was a Chinese word expressing ten days, but after being transmitted to Japan it shifted to a unique usage indicating "the best time of season" (corresponding to kokkun, a Japanese reading meaning). In the Edo period, the folk belief that "eating the season's first produce extends one's lifespan by seventy-five days" spread, and early-season items, beginning with the first skipjack (hatsugatsuo), garnered high popularity.

In sushi, the ability to discern the season of each topping connects directly to freshness management and the pursuit of taste. On the other hand, with the 1970s as a turning point, overfishing and climate change have overlapped, and variation has arisen in the timing of the season's arrival. In addition, as a result of advances in freezing and refrigeration technology, the spread of greenhouse cultivation, and the expansion of air transport, the original sense of season is fading year by year.