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"The Birth of Unadon" and "Doyo Ox Day"

[CAM] July 23, 2016 09:00

 We had you look at post "birth of" Unadon "" on July 8, 2016 and gave you the opportunity to talk a little on Chuo FM. . 

 

 In fact, in June this year, four classmates from college walked around Teganuma, Abiko City, Chiba Prefecture, visited the Yamashina Bird Research Institute, etc., and ate eel, which is a local specialty. At that time, since ancient times, the Shimousa region was said to produce high-quality eels, and it was said that the area near Ushikunuma was the birthplace of Unadon, but it was a little different from the explanation of Monoshiri Encyclopedia So, I was interested in investigating a little bit was the trigger of this post. 

 

The Ibaraki Prefecture site "Unadon, a traditional Japanese taste born in Ibaraki", also explains almost the same as those in Ryugasaki City. Imasuke Okubo, the inventor of Unadon, is a real person from the Edo period. Born in 1757 in Hitachi-Ota City, Ibaraki Prefecture, in 1757, he went to Edo and demonstrated his business talent. He is a man who has built a fortune. 

 

It is said that Imasuke Okubo was the gold owner (funder) of Nakamuraza in Sakaimachi, Edo Nihonbashi, and it is said that the first Unadon was sold in Onoya in Nihonbashi Fukiya town ("Monoshiri Encyclopedia"; page 156), but Chuo-ku was not the birthplace of Chuo-ku, even though it was not the birthplace. 

 

This year seems to be July 30th, but why was it customary to eat eel on "Doyo Ox Day"? There are various theories about the origin, but the most famous thing is that in the Edo period, when we consulted Gennai Hiraga that eel shops were in trouble because eels could not be sold, a poster called "Today Ox Day" It seems that Gennai Hiraga devised "affixed to the store", and this worked, and the eel shop seemed to be thriving. Originally, the eel season is winter, so eels did not sell much in summer before. In order to promote unsellable eels, the theory is that the custom of eating eels was established during the non-seasonal "summer". 

 

However, there is a theory that the inventor was not Gennai Hiraga (1728-79), but Nanpo Ota (Shusanjin) (1749-1823). It is said that the Doyo Ox Day appeared in the literature around the Bunsei period (1818-29), and in Monoshiri Encyclopedia, eelmeshi was sold from Onoya in Fukiya-cho during the cultural period (1804-1818) (pages 156). In terms of age, the theory of Nanpo Ota (Shusanjin) seems to be appropriate.