was only in the neighborhood of 2,000,000 pounds in 1941, there is 

 erery reason to believe that this industry would have expanded rapidly 

 and perhaps have reached as high a level as bonito in the course of 

 another four or five years. 



Japanese Method of Preparing Dried Bonito Sticks .- Bonito sticks, 

 as prepared originally in Japan, and subsequently in the mandate, have 

 several advantages chief of which is durability. They may be trans- 

 ported and kept without refrigeration for months. Packaging consists 

 in wrapping each stick in paper and packing 82 pounds in a box (10 Kan= 

 82.67 pounds). Main requirements of the process are facilities for 

 boiling and an oven for drying, though in order to take advantage of 

 large runs of fish,' some refrigeration is essential. 



A number of women were employed in butchering, skinning, scraping, 

 trimming and packing. In some cases they were paid a flat monthly 

 wage of from 40 to 60 'Sen, but ordinarily they received a basic wage, 

 plus a bonus for piece work. In addition to their salaries, they ob- 

 tained discarded parts of the fresh fish for home consumption. Native 

 women were employed as well as Japanese and Okinawans. Native men 

 were not commonly employed. 



In describing the process, the present tense has been used for 

 clarity, although the action, as far as the ex-mandate is concerned, 

 no longer exists. 



From the fishing vessels, bonito are brought in to the butchering 

 tables, where the head is cut off and the guts removed. Gutting is 

 generally accomplished by cutting off the entire abdominal section of 

 the fish. Two fillets are then cut from the backbone, and these strips 

 again cut lengthwise, making four pieces from each fish, unless they 

 are quite small, when there may be only two pieces. Extra large fish 

 may require cutting the fillet across again, making four pieces per 

 side. 



The strips then are placed in a single layer on steel trays which 

 are stacked in the boiling kettles. The water temperature is kept 

 below boiling when the fish are put in. Usually it is between 170° 

 and 190*F. It is then slowly raised to boiling point and cooking con- 

 tinued for about an hour. Cooking is done at as low a temperature as 

 possible to prevent the flesh from splitting. Fresh fish requires 

 somewhat lower temperature than stale fish. When the cooking is 

 completed, the fish are allowed to cool slowly, and then the skin and 

 small bones are removed. In order to keep the original shape of the 

 individual pieces, any cracks in the flesh, or broken pieces are 

 carefully replaced with a paste of cooked flesh. After these repairs 

 are made, the pieces are ready for drying. 



Ovens are made of brick, 6 feet high, of which U feet is under- 

 ground, and the other dimensions convenient to take the drying trays 

 which may be varied in size. The latter are of wood with a bamboo 

 screen across the bottom and are triangular in shape, approximately 

 3 feet on two sides, 2 feet on the third side, with a depth of three 



35 



