As mentioned in a previous post about hoshigaki persimmons “hung out to dry,” here is photograph of a similar traditional practice: cleaned fish being hung out to dry naturally. However, unlike the drying persimmons, this scene was not taken in a small village that still maintains many old customs. This scene was found along a narrow side street in the very center of the modern metropolis of Nagoya.
These fish adorned a building that was within a short walking distance of the city’s wholesale fish market. The building appeared to accommodate a restaurant and, possibly, the owner’s home. Since the restaurant’s signboard indicated that it specialized in steak, I wondered if the fish were being dried for personal consumption by the owner, or if it was actually on the menu. A search on the internet did reveal the restaurant’s menu, which did indeed include 自家製干物, which translates into English as homemade dried fish.
On a whim, I looked up the location on Google Map Street View and scrolled through the photos from previous street-view dates and I found another instance, almost a decade ago, where fish were being dried outside the same place.
When I took this photo, I was carrying an APS-C mirrorless camera and trying out a vintage 57mm manual-focus prime lens that had been given to me by a friend. The lens itself is worth a post or two on its own. I may write about it sometime in the future.