144 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



FUNORI, OR SEAWEED GLUE. 



NATURE AND GENERAL IMPORTANCE. 



Funori is the name given to a kind of glue made from several species of alga 1 

 which also are called funori. The word means "material for stiffening fabrics," 

 referring to the most common use of the substance. 



The principal funori alga is Gloiopeltis coliformis, but G. intricate, (known as 

 fuhuro-funori) is probably just as satisfactory. There are. however, various other 

 succulent alga\ belonging to other genera, employed for this purpose, which do not 

 yield so valuable a product as the funori alga 3 proper. Gloiopeltis grows on rocks 

 on all parts of the .Japanese coast, but chiefly on the outer (or Pacific) shores of the 

 warmer parts of the Empire. It is gathered at all seasons — in winter in some 



places, in summer in others — being taken 

 from the rocks by long-handled hooks. 



According to Doctor Kishinouye, there is 

 a limited cultivation of Gloiopeltis colifor- 

 iii is in the prefecture of Aomori. The 

 method is quite primitive, consisting simply 

 of throwing stones into the sea to afford a 

 surface for the attachment and growth of 

 the spores. As the stones of the mountains 

 have rough, clean surfaces, they are pre- 

 ferred to others. 



While the manufacture of funori is less 

 extensive than that of kanten or kombu. it 

 is nevertheless quite important, being car- 

 ried on in over 100 establishments, each em- 

 ploying from 15 to 20 persons, located in 

 about 30 different prefectures, the most 

 northern being Hokkaido and the most 

 southern Kagoshima. The industry flour- 

 ishes most in southern Japan, and Osaka is the principal center. Funori has been 

 made in Japan since about the year L673. 



THE PREPARATION AND APPLICATIONS OF II NORI. 



The process of converting the raw seaweed into the marketable product is much 

 simpler than in the case of kanten or kombu. The dried algae, as received from the 

 fishermen, are first sorted and cleaned, and then soaked in fresh water, after which 

 they are usually placed in thin layers on large shallow trays with reed or bamboo 

 bottom, and tightly packed by band so as to form a loose sheet. The sheets are then 

 turned out on pieces of matting by inverting the trays, and are left to bleach and 

 dry. Sometimes, however, the sheets are made directly on the mats without the use 

 of trays. A tendency to curl in drying is overcome by sprinkling with a watering 

 pot or a wet broom. When bleaching has proceeded as far as desirable, the drying 

 is completed and the funori sheets are gathered in bundles of various sizes. The 

 sheets are loose meshed, thin, flexible, and of quite uniform thickness. The usual 



Funori " I Gtoiopt Uis eolifarmis). 





