Junsai Watershield

潤菜

Photos by Tohoku Digital Archive

Historical Background

Junsai appears in the Manyoshu(万葉集), which is the oldest anthropology of Japanese poetry as ‘nunawa.’ But now Junsai is designated in the red data book due to ponds' development and declining water quality.

我が心ゆたにたゆたに浮蓴辺にも沖にも寄りかつましじ

“My mind fluctuates as floating nunawa, it will never reach any shore or somewhere away.”

Nunawa means junsai, and this poem compares one’s waving feelings of love to those of a junsai floating on the surface of a pond.

Characteristics

Junsai is a type of water plant in the water lily family, which the Akita people love for its unique appeal and taste. Mitanecho, a small town in the northern-east part of Akita, accounts for 90% of the domestic production.

The biggest character is its cute figure covered by a watery jelly-like membrane. Indeed, the edible part is the young shoot of junsai. The young shoots are particularly vulnerable to water quality changes and external stimuli, so jelly-like quality protects them from them.