When herring, also known as “spring herring,” arrive in large schools from March to May to spawn, the sea around the coast turns cloudy white. This is called “Kuki,” and the beautiful blue-green sea announces the arrival of spring on the beaches.

　

　Spring in Otaru used to be the most vibrant time of the year.

　

　From the mid-Edo period to the Meiji period (1868-1912), large quantities of herring were brought in from Hokkaido by the Kitamae-bune. Among them, herring meal, dried and pressed boiled herring, was consumed in large quantities mainly in western Japan as a high-quality fertilizer for cotton, indigo, and other crops. Herring meal was indispensable in supporting the textile industry of the time, and may be said to have played a behind-the-scenes role in Japan's modernization.

　

　Herring fishing reached its peak in the 1897s and was a major industry. Herring fishermen, who had amassed enormous wealth, built luxurious palaces and residences. In the 'banya', where many laborers, including fishermen from the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions, slept and slept, the smell of cooking overflowed, and the lively shouts and songs filled the air. The “Soran-bushi,” one of the representative folk songs of Hokkaido, is said to have its roots in the “Okiage Ondo,” a song about herring fishing at herring farms, in which people shouted “Soran, Soran” to each other when they were offshore fishing.