シシャモ

The National Ainu Museum's Ainu language database lists susam for シシャモ in Hokkaido areas such as Oshamambe, Horobetsu, Saru, and Shiraoi. Japanese dictionaries write the fish as 柳葉魚, and the biological name is Spirinchus lanceolatus. Many explanations connect Ainu susu, willow, and ham, leaf, so the Japanese kanji spelling follows the meaning as well as the fish's narrow shape. The route is local: an Ainu fish name entered Japanese as a Hokkaido fish name, especially after Hokkaido became the official place name in 1869. Seisenban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten describes a small osmerid fish about 15 centimeters long, spawning in autumn rivers along the Pacific coast of Hokkaido. This vocabulary group is closer to northern food names than to Meiji Western loanwords such as コロッケ. It is also a winter season word in haiku lists. Modern シシャモ on Japanese supermarket labels can be tricky. True shishamo is a Japanese endemic fish from Hokkaido, but many cheap packs are カラフトシシャモ, capelin, Mallotus villosus, imported from the North Atlantic. The Ainu-based name is therefore narrower than much current shop use. One common menu phrase is 子持ちししゃも, meaning roe-bearing shishamo.