Meichi and medai. This season, their eyes—and their names—catch our attention.

Meichi takes its name from the single stripe running through its eye; medai, from its large eyes.

Knowing their names changes the way we see them.

Speaking of eyes, there’s kinmedai—the golden-eyed sea bream. Some accounts suggest it wasn’t eaten during the Edo period. Yet Hiroshige depicted it in a nishiki-e woodblock print. Why might that be?

Put your eye for fish to the test in this nishiki-e.

Utagawa Hiroshige

Sea Bass, Golden-Eyed Sea Bream, and Shiso, from the series Hiroshige’s Assortment of Fish.

Edo period, c. 1832–1842.

National Diet Library Digital Collections.