Dried sardines - Hoshika

Also written as 'Han-iwashi'. A fish fertilizer used in Japan long ago, made from sardines that have been dried in the sun and have had their oil extracted, and herring was also used. It is not used at all now, but there was a time when it was the most purchased fertilizer. Japan was originally an abundant producer of fish and shellfish, but the use of dried sardines as fertilizer was limited to local areas and for self-sufficiency. However, in the late Edo period, the production of commercial crops such as sericulture, tobacco, and cotton expanded, and maritime transport became more convenient, so the use of dried sardines became more common, but the development of commercial agriculture, especially cotton farming around Osaka, accelerated its spread through dried sardine wholesalers. According to "Agriculture Self-Telling" written by Tamura Nizaemon Yoshishige in 1841 (Tenpo 12), "Although lees, dried sardines, oil cake, rice bran, etc. are all good fertilizers, they are not very effective if used in combination with feces, urine, and ash."

[Yuki Koyama]

"The Source of Fertilizer and Fertilizer Knowledge in Japan" by Ichiro Kawasaki (1973, Japan Soil Association)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

干鰮とも書く。古く日本で用いられていた魚肥で、日干しにしたり油を絞ったイワシのことで、イワシのほかにニシンも使う。現在はまったく用いられないが、購入肥料の首位の座を占めていた時代もあった。もともと日本は魚貝類の生産が豊富であったが、干鰯の肥料としての利用は局地的、自給的なものにとどまっていた。しかし、江戸時代後期になると養蚕、タバコ、ワタ（綿）などの商品作物の生産が拡大し、また海運の便がよくなったことにより干鰯の利用が一般化したが、とくに大坂周辺のワタ作をはじめとする商業的農業の発達が干鰯問屋を通し、その普及を早めた。田村仁左衛門吉茂が1841年（天保12）に著した『農業自得』によれば、「粕(かす)、干鰯、油粕、米ぬか等は皆上肥なれども使用にあたりては大小便、灰などと合せ用ひざれば能少し」と記されている。

［小山雄生］

『川崎一郎著『日本における肥料及び肥料智識の源流』（1973・日本土壌協会）』

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