Japanese Blue and Green #6
While researching 'Aka' in the Kojiki, I encountered the term 赤海鯽魚(red-sea-funa-fish). The common interpretation that "赤海鯽魚 = Aka-chinu = red chinu = red_black sea bream" caught my attention, leading me to investigate the relationship between "Chinu" and "Tai."
Initially, I only intended to provide supplementary information about "Chinu." However, as the connections proved to be extensive, I decided to make it a full article in the color series. During the process of compiling the information, new questions and points of interest kept emerging. I found myself diving deeper and deeper into this rabbit hole, and as the content grew considerably in volume, I decided to present it in two parts.
◆ Red Sea Bream, Black Sea Bream, and Crucian Carp
First, while "海鯽"(sea-funa) is said to refer to "Chinu", the character "鯽"(funa) - of all things - is meant to be a marine version of crucian carp!
However, black sea bream is such a good-looking fish that it's hard to see any resemblance to crucian carp at all.
Moreover, it seems quite unfortunate that red sea bream, known in Japan as the king of fish, would be reduced to "Red sea funa." The dignity of these fish is simply incomparable.
However, it is said that red sea bream only gained its royal status around the 9th to 13th centuries, so this earlier designation might be understandable.
Red sea bream gained its prestigious status for reasons such as:
- Its hard scales were compared to a shogun's armor
- The baby's first eating ceremony had originated in the Heian period (794~) using rice cakes, but during the Kamakura period (late 12th century~), red sea bream became the traditional food for this ritual.
While these historical developments explain how red sea bream rose to prominence, one has to wonder - with such a dignified appearance, wasn't it already a central figure?
This outcome is far from satisfying. We need to examine these reasons more closely.
◆茅淳の海(Chinu-no-umi) = The Sea of Sedge
Let's first look at why black sea bream is called "Chinu." The name appears to have originated from Osaka Bay, which was called "茅淳の海"(Chinu-no-umi), where these fish were caught in abundance.
This "Chinu-no-umi" is an ancient name that appears in the chronicles Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, specifically in their accounts of Jinmu's Eastern Expedition (which I discussed in Japanese Blue and Green #4).
(While the Kojiki records the pre-enthronement Emperor Jinmu as "Kamu-yamato-iware-hiko-no-mikoto," for convenience I will refer to him here as "Iwarebiko")
●Description in the Kojiki
Upon landing in Kishu province, Iwarebiko and his forces immediately engaged in battle with Nagasunehiko. During this conflict, Iwarebiko's elder brother, Itsuse-no-mikoto, was wounded by an arrow. Subsequently, the forces are recorded to have reached the "血沼の海"(Chinu-no-umi = Sea of Flowing Blood). It is also noted that this sea came to be called "Chinu-no-umi" because it was where they washed away the blood from Itsuse-no-mikoto's wounds.
●Description in the Nihon Shoki
Itsuse-no-mikoto is recorded as "Hiko-Itsuse-no-mikoto" in the Nihon Shoki. After Hiko-Itsuse-no-mikoto was wounded, the army is recorded to have arrived at "茅淳の山城水門"(Yamaki-no-minato = the Port of Yamaki in Chinu). The text notes that 茅淳(sedge-rich) was pronounced as "Chinu."
As explained in Japanese Blue and Green #4, the terrain at that time looked something like this.
(I thought it was more green.)
The sequence of events:
Arrival by sea at Shirakata-no-tsu → Attempted to cross Mount Ikoma toward Yamato but were ambushed and engaged in battle → Itsuse-no-mikoto was wounded → Temporarily retreated and proceeded southward, arriving by ship at either "血沼の海"(Chinu-no-umi) or "茅淳の山城水門"(Chinu-no-Yamaki-no-minato)
(On the separate page "Continuing the Story of Jinmu's Eastern Expedition", I briefly introduce the course of events from the "血沼の海"(Chinu-no-umi) to Jinmu's enthronement. Please take a look.)
Eventually, the entire Osaka Bay came to be known as "茅淳の海"(Chinu-no-umi). However, since the Kojiki records that they circled southward and arrived at "血沼の海"(Sea of Flowing Blood), it seems unlikely that "血沼の海"(Sea of Flowing Blood) referred to the entire Osaka Bay. Furthermore, while the exact location of "茅淳の山城水門"(Chinu-no-Yamaki-no-minato) has not been identified, it is said that "Chinu" was the ancient name for the Izumi region of present-day Osaka Prefecture.
This suggests that initially, only the sea around Izumiotsu and Kishiwada was called "茅淳の海"(Chinu-no-umi). If this is the case, this region alone would represent the authentic, original "茅淳の海"(Chinu-no-umi).
There is also a theory that suggests the name "茅淳の海"(Chinu-no-umi) comes from the fish name "Chinu" (black sea bream), but in any case, when this fish name came into use is not known.
Incidentally, a web search for "岸和田(Kishiwada) 黒鯛(Kurodai)" reveals an event called "岸和田黒鯛フェア" (Kishiwada Black Sea Bream Fair).

It seems that Kishiwada is actively promoting black sea bream not just through events, but on an ongoing basis.
→ Kishiwada no Kurodai (The Black Tai of Kishiwada) [PDF file / 3.31MB]
(Courtesy of Kishiwada City's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Division)
As expected, black sea bream can be caught in abundance in Kishiwada. Additionally, it is said that the word "茅淳"(Chinu) appears frequently in the school songs of elementary, junior high, and high schools in Kishiwada City.
It may be safe to say that this area is the birthplace of "茅淳の海"(Chinu-no-umi).
I found it somewhat puzzling that they used "黒鯛"(kurodai) instead of "Chinu," and initially thought they might be avoiding the risk of using a Kansai regional name that wouldn't be understood elsewhere. However, this turned out to be completely wrong.
Black sea bream caught near the shore tend to have an unpleasant taste, which has given them a poor reputation among Kishiwada locals, resulting in low market prices. However, black sea bream caught in offshore waters are said to taste as good as red sea bream. Therefore, it seems they intentionally chose to promote these fish as "黒鯛"(kurodai) rather than the familiar "Chinu," using this somewhat new local name to dispel the existing negative image.
◆ Reading of "赤海鯽魚"(red-sea-funa-fish)
As mentioned earlier, while the exact period when black sea bream came to be called "Chinu" remains unknown, I discovered an inconsistency in the chronological order of appearances in the Kojiki.
The "赤海鯽魚"(red-sea-funa-fish) appears in the tale of the brothers "Yamasachi-hiko and Umisachi-hiko" (Master of Mountain Bounty and Master of Sea Bounty). These brothers were born to Ninigi-no-mikoto (who is famous for the Divine Descent from Takamagahara) and Konohana-no-Sakuya-bime. In the Kojiki, Umisachi-hiko's formal name is Hoderi-no-mikoto, while Yamasachi-hiko is Hoori-no-mikoto.
The issue lies in the fact that Emperor Jimmu is considered to be Hoori's grandson. This means that the "赤海鯽魚"(=Aka-chinu) appears before the naming of the "Chinu-no-umi" during Jimmu's Eastern Expedition. Naturally, in the Kojiki's chronological order, the tale of "Yamasachi-hiko and Umisachi-hiko" comes first.
Originally, Ō no Yasumaro would have wanted to avoid such a situation, even within the narrative. This raises a new doubt: perhaps he did not intend for "海鯽魚"(sea-funa-fish) to be read as "Chinu" at all.
If "海鯽"(sea-funa) and "海鯽魚"(sea-funa-fish) were indeed meant to be read as "Chinu," they would be examples of complete ateji (phonetic kanji) that represent meaning only. In the Kojiki, which emphasizes readability and rhythm, it would be quite unnatural to use such difficult-to-read ateji without annotation, while also creating a chronological inconsistency.
While "海鯽魚(sea-funa-fish) = Chinu" might have been common knowledge at the time and made sense contextually, if there was no alternative but to introduce "chinu" before the appearance of "Chinu-no-umi," he would likely have chosen to use a different word first and then separately explain "○○ refers to 海鯽魚(Chinu)" or something similar.
Therefore, I believe that a different reading might have been intended for the time of the tale, and that it would have been sufficient for readers to understand it simply referred to red sea bream, regardless of how it was pronounced.
Upon further investigation of the character "鯽"(funa):
Kun-reading: funa
On-reading: soku, zoku, seki
A normal reading of "赤海鯽魚"(red-sea-funa-fish) would suggest possibilities such as "aka ki umi no soku gyo" or "aka ki umi funa uo."
However, since this is a story from before Emperor Jimmu's time, I believe it should be set with 'wamei' (Japanese native name: using kun-reading based on indigenous Japanese pronunciations, rather than on-reading derived from Chinese pronunciations), so for now I suggest "Akaki umifunauo."
Since strict classification would have been difficult in ancient times, it's possible that all flat sea fish were originally called "海鯽"(sea-funa-fish). Even if this were the case, I believe that by adding the descriptor "red," while we cannot be certain if it specifically refers to red sea bream, it definitely indicates red members of the sea bream family as shown in the images below.
Red sea bream (madai) | Yellowback seabream (chidai, hanadai) | Golden seabream (kidai, renkodai) |
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Eventually, due to their abundance in Osaka Bay, "海鯽"(sea-funa) came to be called "Chinu," and I believe it would be natural to think that later readers added "Akachinu" as the reading for "赤海鯽魚"(sea-funa-funa-fish).
Indeed, "Chinu" is definitely a better name than "Umifunauo," and since "Chinu" later came to be written as "茅淳"(sedge-rich), I believe many readers would have needed reading guidance. Some might have even read the four characters of "赤海鯽魚"(red-sea-funa-fish) as "tai."
If this speculation is correct, then it would mean that the expression was not meant to be "a red version of black sea bream," thus preserving the dignity of red sea bream.
◆ Summary
For now, I have settled on "Akakiumifunauo" as the reading for "赤海鯽魚"(red-sea-funa-fish). While this would be too long for common use, I believe at least there was no intention for it to be read as "Akachinu."
In the next installment, which will conclude this investigation, we will begin with an examination of "the first sea bream." We will also introduce the story of "Yamasachi-hiko and Umisachi-hiko," so please stay tuned.
Continuing the Story of Jinmu's Eastern Expedition
This article contains many of the author's speculations. Also, since the purpose of this article is to generate interest in Infigo online, I will not list any references. Thank you for your understanding. |