Neil Newman
When I first went to Japan
as an “alien” in the 1980s, my British palate was confronted with all manner of strange food – and I reached the hasty conclusion that the Japanese couldn’t cook for toffee. As a young banker fresh off the boat I sought refuge in Indian restaurants or in one of the few affordable French and Italian places introduced by like-minded culinary hostages – the locals could at least boil spaghetti and had a ketchup-based sauce called “Napolitan”.
During my first stint in Japan, despite the massive differences in cuisine and a firm conviction that seaweed and sparrows shouldn’t be eaten, I came to the conclusion that the Japanese and the British were very much alike in many ways:
• They are an island nation that historically fell out with their neighbours. The animosity is shared as their neighbours dislike them accordingly.
• They drink an awful lot of beer and don’t hold back on a night out, roaring with laughter to jokes largely based on word play and puns which only locals can truly “get”.
• Fish is core to their diet and commands a nationalistic sentiment. Having sustained them during wartime, it is worth fighting for – something the British have shown during
When venturing into the real Japanese food scene with my new colleagues and clients it was nearly always fish on the menu – but for me cooked; I just couldn’t face eating something that was still watching me.
Fast forward forty years and the Japanese have sorted out cooking, putting an emphasis on quality ingredients and careful preparation, and eating Japanese in Japan is a delight. The foreign food is also wonderful and these days the pubs stock locally brewed real ale that makes you weep.
However, raw fish even to this day makes me gag, but there is no denying that Japanese seafood – raw or otherwise – is some of the most desirable in the world, and sought after by the well-heeled internationally. Domestically, sashimi and sushi is a common meal, but the highest quality fish for a posh meal is progressively becoming more expensive.
The Pacific storms that rage during the summer have intensified over recent years and are interfering with the supply of cheap fish to Japanese markets. The warmer sea temperatures have also affected supply by slowing the migration of fish, allowing Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean fishers to get the lion’s share in international waters. This has led to high prices of salmon and pacific saury – a Japanese staple. The usually plentiful supply of squid and octopus is disappearing as Asian tastes have shifted towards these, and there has been an increase in unfamiliar deep water bug-eyed fish that Japanese consumers don’t really know what to do with.
For the Japanese fishing industry and the Japanese consumer looking for a nice plate of sashimi, the new problem is China and the rate at which its fishing fleets are pulling fish from Japanese waters.
Chinese fishing fleets are swarming around Japan, with the Japanese coastguard currently focused on ordering Chinese fishing boats to leave its “Yamatotai” fishing grounds which are rich in squid and crabs. Tokyo, for the moment, has advised Japanese fishermen to stay away and fish elsewhere.
The encroachment on Japanese fishing grounds suggest that the seas where Chinese fishers have traditionally gone may have become barren due to overfishing, or simply that the increased demand for seafood in China as its population becomes wealthier is pushing its fishing fleet farther afield. It makes one wonder why Australian rock lobsters have recently been banned. Perhaps China has decided not to buy seafood from other countries but increasingly go and get it itself, which is likely to infuriate the Aussies even further when they start pulling their lobsters up.
The Japanese coastguard has for years been chasing the North Koreans away, sometimes using water cannons mounted on the ships. But in dealing with Chinese fishers that refuse to leave, they are trying much harder to avoid a conflict that would spark an issue between Tokyo and Beijing. This is drawing some criticism in domestic political circles – and the fishermen are furious – with suggestions that the Japanese should start using force. If that happens it would undoubtedly bring in the Chinese military and the properly armed Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force – not that the Japanese coastguard aren’t able to protect themselves.
Interestingly, Japan is now facing an issue similar to one which Britain has perennially battled with: maintaining fishing stocks as European Union fishermen, including Brits, overfished UK waters.
Boris Johnson has just emerged from a lengthy battle with the EU to come up with a deal for Brexit, where a core sticking point was EU fishing fleets’ access to fish in UK territorial waters – the EU was demanding 80 per cent of the total catch but ended up with less with future downward revisions. But there were earlier very serious confrontations over fish between the UK and its neighbours.
Cod was one of the most popular and essential fish in the British diet during World War II, as it was one of the few foods that were not rationed and remained in good supply, although the risks taken by British fishermen to catch it were significant. From the late 1940s when food supplies remained tight in the UK through to the early years of the European Economic Community (EEC), the UK and Iceland all but declared war over fishing rights in the north Atlantic. Multiple confrontations took place, shots were fired, and this became known as the Cod Wars.
For some years in the lead-up to the war, Iceland had been concerned about the presence of British ships in its waters. And as the various spats occurred, with the Royal Navy often assisted, ironically, by the Germans, Iceland expanded its territorial waters from three, to four and then twelve nautical miles off its coast. This fired up the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) on the British side and the British fishermen were able to continue to fish under the protection of the Royal Navy.
Tokyo's major fish market hit hard by coronavirus pandemic
A plate of cod and chips is as important to the Brits as a plate of sushi is to the Japanese. In both countries, the quota system for fishers has not been sufficient to keep fish stocks sustainable, with the bureaucrats constantly overruling the advice of scientists in both countries. For Japan the biggest threat has been the loss of blue fin tuna, which has been fished almost to the point of extinction. But now other species are also under threat. For the Brits, it has been trouble with the stocks of cod, herring and most recently skate.
Britain has thankfully avoided another conflict over fish with the EU. Had an agreement not been reached, the fight over fish could in the extreme have led to the Royal Navy bumping hulls with the fishing fleets of its neighbours. And for what it is worth, now that a deal is done, I am bullish on the UK economy. I have half my pension firmly planted in UK stocks and Sterling.
Japan happens to be at a similar crossroads, negotiating future trade deals that involve its neighbours. With President Xi Jinping saying China is considering membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – which the UK is also considering – fish is likely to be a highly sensitive point of contention.
Until then seafood remains an emotional topic. By attempting to acquire essential resources such as seafood for itself, rather than raising hard cash and buying Australian lobsters for example, China raises the risk of clashing with its neighbours. Especially if hauling Japanese fish is just the start of it, and sourcing other natural resources follow.
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