Japanese Cuisine - Seasonality

Seasonality

Much like the haiku poem, traditional Japanese cuisine strives to make a presentation of the seasonality (shun).

Seasonality means taking advantage of the "bounty of the mountains" (e.g. bamboo shoots in spring, chestnuts in the fall) as well as the "bounty of the sea" as they come into season. The hatsu-gatsuo or the first catch of skipjack tunas that arrives with the Kuroshio Current has traditionally been greatly prized.

If something becomes available rather earlier than usual, the first crop or early catch is called hashiri.

Use of (inedible) tree leaves and branches as decor is also characteristic of Japanese cuisine. Maple leaves are often floated on water to exude coolness or ryō (涼?), sprigs of nandina are popularly used. The haran (Aspidistra) and sasa bamboo leaves were often cut into shapes, and placed underneath or used as separators.