Good Pufferfish Day (Ii Fugu no Hi)
Food DaysWhat Is Good Pufferfish Day?
November 29 is "Good Pufferfish Day" (Ii Fugu no Hi). The date comes from the wordplay "ii (11) fu (2) gu (9)," and the day was established by the Shimonoseki Fugu Federation and the Yamaguchi Prefecture Fisheries Cooperative Association. In Shimonoseki, pufferfish (fugu) is affectionately called "fuku" (meaning "good fortune"), treated as a lucky food. The day celebrates seasonal fugu and aims to spread awareness of its rich culinary culture.
The History and Culture of Fugu Cuisine
Because fugu contains the deadly toxin tetrodotoxin, eating it was long forbidden in Japan. There's a famous story from 1888 (Meiji 21) in which then-Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito tried fugu at the Shunpanro restaurant in Shimonoseki and was so impressed that he declared, "How could something this delicious be banned?" - leading to the lifting of the ban on eating fugu in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Today, preparing fugu legally requires a national "fugu chef license."
Types of Fugu Dishes
- Tessa (fugu sashimi): Paper-thin slices of raw fugu, often arranged in a chrysanthemum pattern and served with citrus and condiments
- Tetchiri (fugu hot pot): A shabu-shabu style hot pot simmered in kelp broth, enjoyed with citrus-soy ponzu sauce
- Fried fugu: Bone-in chunks of fugu, deep-fried - a popular item at izakaya pubs
- Hire-zake: Hot sake infused with the smoky aroma of grilled fugu fins
- Shirako: Male fugu milt (roe sac), considered a top-tier winter delicacy
Where and When Fugu Is at Its Best
Tiger pufferfish (torafugu) are in season from October to March. Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture is Japan's largest fugu market, handling roughly 80% of the nationwide supply. In recent years, specialty chains such as "Torafugutei" have made fugu cuisine more accessible than ever before.