Storm was coming last time we went to see Hatahata fishing so that we couldn’t see any Hatahata. After 5 days, we’ve heard that there are many Hatahata at Akita port that we went to have a look. It was a very cold and windy day that outside temperature was -5C. But there were a lot of people there.

We stood on the line with many others to see what is happening. Many people had their fishing rod, but no one was getting Hatahata. We also tried, but nothing happened. A person next us told that "Hatahata is swimming around and we can get a lot of fish at once when they reach the coastline." We waited for that moment patiently.

About Hatahata

Hatahata is the most famous fish in Akita. It is a kind of white fishes usually live about 500m of depth in ocean. They come near coastline for laying eggs on the stormy day at the end of a year. Hatahata is very popular in Akita that people cooks many local foods like Hatahata hot pot and fish sauce.

Someone next to us said "Here they come!" when we were waiting in the cold. Others got ready for fishing. A crowd of Hatahata came to the coast. Finally, I got one too! The fish is about 20cm and very beautiful. It was very slippery and have no scales. Once when people start to get fishes, they kept getting continuously. After half an hour or so, silence came back, and no more fishes were there. This happened several times, and some good fishermen got over 100 Hatahata.

Shotturu-Nabe: Fish Sauce Hot Pot

We learned to cook fish sauce hot pot when we got back from fishing. The sauce is called “Shotturu” and it is a thick sauce made by fermented Hatahata. People use Hatahata, some vegetables and a little bit of fish sauce for this hot pot. Both female and male Hatahata were used for hot pot. Female had a lot of egg in it’s berry. It was smaller than Ikura and had unique texture. (From Germany)