🍱 Oshinuki zushi

From spring to early summer, as the mung beans begin to bear fruit and the wheat begins to ripen, Spanish mackerel, loaded with fat, enter the Seto Inland Sea from the open sea, and the season for Spanish mackerel begins. During the off-season before wheat harvesting and rice planting, Sanuki farmers have a custom called "harui-oi," in which they buy a Spanish mackerel and prepare various Spanish mackerel dishes, inviting their relatives to join in the festivities. The main dish of this "Haru-i-o" is "oshi-nuki zushi" (pressed sushi without the fish), which is made of Spanish mackerel. In families with young brides, the mother-in-law buys Spanish mackerel and sends the daughter-in-law back to her hometown with a fish box covered with nanten (a kind of bamboo shoot). The bride would then take the "oshinuki zushi" made at her parents' home back home as a souvenir to her wedding home, thus bringing the two families closer together. The custom of "oshinuki zushi" of Spanish mackerel "spring celebration fish" is still practiced in some areas under the names of "mugi-urashi" and "hatsuho (first ears of Spanish mackerel)".