日本における昆虫食の歴史と現状 : スズメバチを中心として

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In this review, the history and present situation of insect food in Japan are described focusing on wasp and hornet broods.1. Insect food was reported for the first time in the Edo era and main edible insects in those days were exemplified by the rice grasshoppers and wasp broods. Among these, roasted or baked rice grasshoppers were not only eaten in farming villages where rice was grown but also marketed in big cities as snacks for children. However, insects other than rice grasshopper were taken seemingly only in very special areas. In the Taisho era, Miyake (1919) surveyed edible insects all over Japan using a questionnaire method and thus reported 55 species of edibte insects including 48 identified species (rice grasshoppers, wasps and hornets, cicadas, silkworms, etc.) and 7 unknown ones. Main examples of insects eaten in Japan from the early period of the Showa era up to now include rice grasshoppers, wasps and hornets, silkworms and cicadas. In the days of food poverty during the World War II and immediately thereafter, rice grasshoppers were eaten commonly all over Japan and distributed as a valuable nutritional source both in big cities and farming villages. Until 1950s, boiled and seasoned rice grasshoppers (tsukudani) and dried rice grasshoppers were sold in grocery stores even in big cities such as Tokyo. Today, these products are served mainly in luxury food stores as snacks with drinks in restaurants at local specialties and hotels. However, the rice grasshoppers used in these products are partly imported from China, etc. In the days of food poverty during the World War II and immediately thereafter, silkworm pupae were eaten throughout Japan mainly by silkworm-raising farmers, workers in silk mills and some ordinary families as a fat-rich food, though there is little need for silkworm pupae for edible use today. 2, According to "Shozan Chomon Kishu" written by Shozan Miyoshi (1850) in the Edo era, Vespula. spp. was already eaten in Mino (Gifu Prefecture) and Kiso(Nagano Prefecture). Methods for collecting nets of this insect and cooking it were described in this book. In the Taisho era, various wasp and hornet larvae were eaten in various ways (fresh, boiled, blended with rice, etc.) in 20 prefectures from Hokkaido to Kagoshima. Today, larvae and pupae of insects belonging to the genus Vespa (V. mandarinia, V. simillima, etc.) contained in combs are sold in autumn in grocery stores in mountain villages of Miyazaki, Ishikawa, Aichi, Gifu, Nagano, etc. These wasp and hornet larvae are not only used in domestic dishes but fried or boiled and seasoned with mirin, sugar, soy sauce, etc., and served in restaurants, etc. Vespula flaviceps larva dishes are one of delicacies in the Chubu area including Nagano, Gifu and Aichi both in big cities and farming villages. The most popular one in these areas is rice cooked with wasp and hornet broods which are generally eaten during special events such as the autumn festivals. In addition, there are various dishes with the use of cooked, fried or pickled VI. flaviceps broods. 3. In Nagano and Gifu Prefecture, fresh wasp and hornet larvae and pupae in combs are marketed as a food even now. The average wasp and hornet broods received by Tono Fish / Vegetable Market (Nakatsugawa-shi, Gifu Prefecture) during 19 years (1978 - 1996) amounted to 4.2 t/year. The maximum demand (9.2 t) was established in 1986 while less than 1t of wasp and hornet broods could be obtained in some years. Fresh wasp and hornet broods arrive at the market from September to November attaining the peak usually in October. The highest price was ￥14,983/kg (1978) with the lowest being ￥3,046/kg（1983）. 4. Most of wasp and hornet broods were sent to the markets in Gifu and Nagano Prefecture but those produced in other prefectures are supplied from Nishinasuno-cho and Otahara-shi (Tochigi Prefecture). In this area, the wasp and hornet nests were collected by about 500 specialists called “Toriko" involving 50 full-time workers. From September to November, they covered the mountains and field areas not only in their own prefecture Tochigi but in the Tohoku and Kanto areas to collect Vespula spp. nests. The collected nests were bought up by 2 brokers. 500kg/day of nets are purchased by each broker and the maximum annual yield amounts to 15 t. Through September to November in 1996, the price of these nests was ￥4,500/kg, though the price rangss from ￥7,000 to ￥10,000/kg in 1980s. A Toriko collector can usually collect from 7 to 8 kg/day of wasp nets, while a skilled one can collect 15 kg/day of nets. In an abundant year, a collector can sometimes get even 20 to 30 kg of nests in one day. These Toriho collectors, in this area, originate in the facts that wasp and hornet broods in this area had been used since 1920s in canned product plants established in Nagano Prefecture and that a number of skilled nest collectors came to this area from Nagano for cultivating Nasu Highland during the Taisho era. The characteristic Toriko collectors originating in these persons have been contributing to the provision of wasp nests up to now. 5. Seasoned and canned or bottled wasp products are widely sold today in Nagano and Gifu Prefecture. Canned wasp products are produced by removing Vespula spp. larvae or pupae from nests and boiling them with soy sauce, sugar, artificial seasonings, etc. After a manufacturer had started the business in 1910 in Nagano Prefecture, 7 to 9 t/year of canned products were produced in ten and several places in Nagano and Gifu Prefecture from 1910 to 1930. In 1970s, the annual output amounted to 17 to 20 t only in Nagano Prefecture. Today, these products, each can having 200 g of the contents, are sold at ￥2,500 to ￥3,000. In Otahara-shi (Tochigi Prefecture), an apiarist puts on the market seasoned and bottled VI. flaviceps broods produced in this area at an output of about 1 t/year at the largest. With the decrease in the wasp broods collected in Japan, Vespula spp. broods have been imported from Korea since 1989. Before shipment, these larvae and pupae are taken out from the nests, semi-processed (boiled or seasoned with salt) and then packed in 18 ℓ cans. These imported products in Nagano and Gifu Prefecture. Also, Vespula germanica larvae and pupae have been imported from New Zealand and employed as materials for processing recently. Canned drone honeybee pupae seasoned with soy sauce, sugar and artificial seasonings were marketed by apiarists in Nagano Prefecture in 1960s. At present, apiarists all over Japan participate in manufacturing these products. Recently, semi-processed (boiled with salt) drone honeybee pupae imported from Taiwan and China are also being used. 6. The nutritional value of wasp and hornet broods widely depending on the type, shape, growth conditions, the time of collecting nests, etc. Among all, queen larvae in autumn with the maximum development of the nests are marketed at the highest price, since they are large in size, contain much fat-bodies and have a rich taste, compared with those of the worker wasps.7. Wasp and hornet broods employed in these products are collected in the field. Since of the recent decrease in the nest resource and the elevated price, attempts have been frequently made to collect nests during the early stage followed by raising and put these enlarged nests on the market. In Nagano, Gifu, Aichi Prefecture, etc., it is the fashion now that the men collect nests in June to August immediately after the eclosion of worker wasps and artificially keep the colony in a nest box by feeding with a large amount of fish, chicken, sugar solutions, etc. However, it has never been succeeded so far to make an overwintered-queen wasp to found her nest during the spring.8. Now, the history of wasp and hornet food in China and Thailand is also described. In some areas in these countries, wasp and hornet broods are still much more expensive than beef or pork. Wasp and hornet larvae are eaten as luxury food in ordinary homes and restaurants.9. Fresh Vespula spp. larvae and pupae have been marketed as a food for singing pet birds since the Edo era.10. Lately, insect food including wasp and hornet food are characterized by the reduction in species of edible insects and succession of traditional food not throughout Japan but in restricted areas. Although the wasp and hornet food have been on a serious decline from the nationwide viewpoint, new wasp and hornet dishes for high grade restaurants, etc. which are different from the traditional local specialties have been developed in some areas including Nagano, Gifu, Aichi and Miyazaki Prefecture, thus increasing the need for the wasp and hornet food by those who have never tried to eat them. That is to say, the wasp and hornet food show tendencies toward extremes in their decline and development. In Japan, there is a great variety of wasp and hornet dishes which can never been seen in other countries. Accordingly, it is to be emphasized here that wasp and hornet food are highly characteristic of Japan, compared even with the areas in China, Thailand, etc. where wasp and hornet foods are highly popular.
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日本における昆虫食の歴史と現状 : スズメバチを中心として

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