Walk into a serious Tokyo sushiya in February and again in August and you will barely recognize the menu. That is by design. Edomae sushi is organized around shun — the peak weeks when a fish carries the most fat and flavor — and the counter's lineup shifts with the water temperature. As we explain in what is Edomae sushi, the tradition treats the seasonal calendar as central to the craft, not a marketing flourish. Here is roughly how the year moves.
Summer (June–August)
Warm water brings lean, clean-tasting fish and a few celebrated specialties.
- Shinko — the baby gizzard shad, arriving around July for only a few weeks; the season's first auction can outprice premium tuna per kilogram, and a single nigiri may take several hand-cured fish. See our shinko guide.
- Katsuo (bonito) — the leaner "first bonito" of early summer.
- Aji (horse mackerel) and kisu (whiting) — light, bright, and at their best in the heat.
Autumn (September–November)
Fish begin to fatten as the water cools, and the land contributes too.
- Sanma (Pacific saury) — the emblem of Japanese autumn, running September through November as the schools pass Hokkaido and the Sanriku coast; the first fatty landings are the ones to chase, and shrinking catches have turned the old ¥100 fish into an early-autumn event. Our sanma guide has the full story.
- Nodoguro (rosy seabass) — the rich white fish that peaks from autumn into winter; see our nodoguro guide.
- Matsutake — not sushi, but the autumn mushroom that dominates kaiseki menus; see our matsutake guide.
Winter (December–February)
Widely regarded as the richest stretch of the year, when cold water thickens fat.
- Kanburi (winter yellowtail) — wild buri at peak fattiness; see our kanburi guide.
- Shirako (cod or pufferfish milt) — a creamy cold-weather delicacy; see our shirako guide.
- Fugu (pufferfish) — the licensed winter cuisine, at its best November through February; see our fugu season guide.
- Rich toro tuna rounds out the season — winter bluefin from Oma is the auction-headline fish of the year.
Spring (March–May)
The calendar turns back toward delicate, silvery fish and shellfish.
- Kohada (gizzard shad) — the grown fish, a benchmark of Edomae work.
- Hamaguri (clam) and torigai (cockle) — shellfish at their spring peak.
- Hotaru-ika (firefly squid) — the Toyama Bay fishery opens on March 1 and runs to around early May; a brief Sea of Japan specialty worth timing a Hokuriku detour for.
The hard dates worth circling
A few seasons in this calendar open on fixed days rather than drifting with the weather, and they are the ones to plan travel around:
- November 6 — the Sea of Japan snow-crab fishery opens; the female kobako-gani is legal only until late December, one of the shortest windows in Japanese food. See our crab season guide.
- March 1 — Toyama Bay's firefly-squid boats go out.
- Around July — the first shinko auctions, when Tokyo's Edomae counters compete to serve the year's first piece.
None of this is new: Edomae technique itself was born as preservation — vinegar, salt, and simmering to keep Tokyo Bay's catch edible — and the calendar has been the craft's spine ever since, as our history of sushi traces.
Planning around the calendar
You do not need to memorize every fish to eat well — a good chef will guide you through an omakase. But if there is one ingredient you have traveled to taste, let it set your dates, then book early. The rarest seasonal items sell out first.
