A road for carrying what was landed in Wakasa Bay to the capital has existed for a very long time, running down the western side of Lake Biwa. So much mackerel went along it that it is called the mackerel road, and shops making and selling this still stand beside it.

The method is patient. Salted mackerel is washed in vinegar, filleted into three, and left in vinegar overnight. The thin membrane is peeled off and the small bones pulled out.

Cooked rice is dressed with seasoned vinegar and broken up with a paddle while it is still warm enough to take it.

A rolling mat is spread with film, the mackerel laid on it, and the rice pressed out over the fish by hand rather than packed. The mat goes over the top and the whole thing is rolled into a bar. Once the rice and the fish have settled into each other, it is cut with a blade passed through vinegar. This was the dish for the float festivals at Otsu and Nagahama, without which those days were not properly furnished. It is eaten across the prefecture, most of all in the north around the lake, and most of all in autumn and winter. A prefecture with no coastline holds its festivals with a sea fish.