namako - sea slug

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namako 海鼠 sea cucumber, sea slug

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All Winter
***** Category: Animal

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Explanation




namako 海鼠 (なまこ) sea cucumber, sea slug
trepang, bêche-de-mer
family Holothuroidea

namako in vinegar, su namako 酢海鼠（すなまこ）
innards of namako, konowata 海鼠腸（このわた）
- see below -
..... konoko このこ, iriko 海参（いりこ）
..... iriko 熬海鼠（いりこ）
..... tawarago 俵子（たわらご）, kinko きんこ
..... torago とらご, toorago とうらご

fishing for namako, namako tsuki 海鼠突（なまこつき）
vendor of namako, namako uri 海鼠売（なまこうり）
boat for catching namako, namakobune 海鼠舟（なまこぶね）

Not to mix with the hoya, a summer kigo, see below.




namako su なまこ酢 namako salted namako in vinegar dressing
Usually sanbaizu 三杯酢 vinegar is used.

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- quote
"To supply the markets of Southern China, Macassan trepangers traded with the Indigenous Australians of Arnhem Land. This Macassan contact with Australia is the first recorded example of trade between the inhabitants of the Australian continent and their Asian neighbours."

Some varieties of sea cucumber (known as gamat in Malaysia or trepang in Indonesia) are said to have excellent healing properties. There are pharmaceutical companies being built based on this gamat product. Extracts are prepared and made into oil, cream or cosmetics. Some products are intended to be taken internally. The effectiveness of sea cucumber extract in tissue repair has been the subject of serious study. It is believed that the sea cucumber contains all the fatty acids necessary to play an active role in tissue repair.

Sea cucumbers are believed to be endowed with aphrodisiac powers in the Far East. The reason for this belief is the peculiar reaction of the creature on being kneaded or disturbed slightly with fingers. It swells and stiffens and a jet of water is released from one end. This behaviour is similar to the erection and subsequent ejaculation of the male human penis. After releasing the jet, which is a defensive mechanism and contains irritants, the creature loses its stiffness and reverts to its original state.

Sea cucumbers have also inspired thousands of haiku in Japan, where they are called namako (海鼠), written with characters that can be translated "sea mice".

In English translations of these haiku, they are usually called "sea slugs"; according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term "sea slug" originally referred to holothurians (in the 18th century), though biologists now use the name only for the nudibranch molluscs, marine relatives of land slugs.
Almost 1,000 Japanese holothurian haiku translated into English appear in the book Rise, Ye Sea Slugs! by Robin D. Gill .
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !




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- - - - - Yosa Buson and the Namako - - - - -

生海鼠にも鍼 こゝろむる書生哉
namako ni mo hari kokoromuru shosei kana

intern doctors
even sea slugs serve for
needle practice
Tr. Robin D. Gill



大鼾そしればうごく生海鼠哉
oo-ibiki soshireba ugoku namako kana
(1768)

His loud snore
When grumbled about
Moves this sea cucumber.
Tr. Nelson/Saito



思ふ事いはぬさまなる生海鼠かな　
omou koto iwanu sama naru namako kana

it looks like
it cannot speak its mind
the sea slug
Tr. Robin D. Gill
- More translations by Robin D. Gill in facebook



あたまからふとんかぶればなまこかな　
atama kara futon kabureba namako kana

with the quilt
over your head: voila
a sea slug!　
Tr. Robin D. Gil
- More translations by Robin D. Gill in facebook



. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .


Buson uses the Chinese characters of the Edo period:

namako 生海鼠 - where the first kanji represents the NAMA - raw food.
- discussion on facebook -

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. hoshi namako 干しなまこ dried namako, .
Sticbopus japonicus
kansoo namako　乾燥なまこ


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konowata 海鼠腸（このわた）
most fames from Mikawa, Aichi prefecture.

They are taken from three kinds of sea cucumbers, the green, red and black one.
The fisherman's wife takes a razor, opens the side carefully and separates the body from the entrails, which are washed carefully. They are quite long and the contents are squeezed out.
The body of the sea cucumber is not thrown away, it can be grilled and eaten with sake too.

KO is the old name for namako, so this is the namako no wata.

gesalzene Eingeweide der Seegurke


This dish is one of the three favorite delicacies of Japan :
. Tenka no sandai chinmi 天下の三大珍味 .


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Worldwide use




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Things found on the way

hoya 海鞘 (ほや, 老海鼠) sea squirt, ascidian
保夜（ほや）- ホヤ
hoya 老海鼠（ほや）the kanji mean "old namako"
Ascidiacea.

mahoya 真海鞘（まほや）
white hoya, shirohoya 白海鞘（しろほや）
red hoya, akahoya 赤海鞘（あかほや）
black hoya, kurohoya 黒海鞘（くろほや）
"craw hoya", karasu hoya 烏海鞘（からすほや）

..... not to mix with the namako 海鼠 (なまこ) .

ほやの酢の物 hoya no su no mono, vinegared hoya, speciality of Miyagi.
Seescheide, eine Art Seegurke.


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source :　hidougu/archives

red namako patterns from Shigaraki pottery
信楽赤海鼠


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なまこストラップ　namako strap　for the handy telephone or keyholder.


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HAIKU and SENRYU


生きながら一つに氷る海鼠哉
いきながらひとつにこほるなまこかな
iki nagara hitotsu ni kooru namako kana
iki-nagara hitotsu ni kooru namako kana

Still alive,
They are frozen in one lump:
Sea slugs
Tr. Makoto Ueda

Probably written in 元禄6年, Basho age 50. Collection 続別座敷.


still alive
but frozen into one,
this sea slug ...

this sea slug
is frozen into one
but still alive . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve

The hokku has the cut marker KANA at the end of line 3.
Written shortly before his death. It feels as if Basho is talking about himself.


. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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一桶の氷にまじる海鼠かな
hito-oke no koori ni majiru namako kana

in one bucket
of ice there are some
sea cucumbers . . .

lit. "some sea cucumbers are mixed in a bucket full of ice"

. Hasegawa Kai 長谷川櫂　 .


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俎板の氷をぬめるなまこかな
太祇

引き汐のわすれて行きしなまこかな
蝶夢

憂きことを海月に語る海鼠かな
召波

魚市のとぼりて寒き海鼠かな
村上鬼城

ひつそりと海鼠の水に泡ふたつ
高田正子


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Related words

***** . namakokabe　なまこ壁　"namako walls" .


. WASHOKU - GENERAL INFORMATION .

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