Tiger Puffer Fish Restaurant
“Guenpin”

Pufferfish (“fugu”) has a long history in Japan as food, dating back to the Jomon era about 10,000 years ago from which fugu bones have been unearthed. During the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1598 - 1600), a significant number of samurai lost their lives eating fugu, which resulted in Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a feudal warlord, issuing a law prohibiting fugu consumption in order to prevent death by fugu poison.

Later, with the invention of miso paste and soy sauce during the Edo period (1603 - 1867) and the general development of Japanese food culture, fugu became increasingly popular and eventually, in the Meiji period (1868 - 1912), the prime minister at the time lobbied to lift the ban on fugu, having been so impressed by the delicacy. Since the 1940’s, upscale fugu cuisine has gained a place in the national cuisine, with the center of fugu culture being Yamaguchi and Osaka prefectures.
Full fugu course meals spread and became popular across the country.