Editing Nori (section)

== History ==
===Ancient===
[[File:Shinagawa nori Utagawa Kuniyoshi 1864.jpg|thumb|left|''Toasting nori sheets in [[Shinagawa]]'', print by [[Utagawa Hiroshige|Hiroshige]], 1864]]
[[File:FMIB 53529 On etale l'Asaksanori en plein air pour le fair secher.jpeg|thumb|Nori being dried on racks, 1921]]

Originally, the term ''nori'' was generic and referred to [[seaweed]]s, including ''[[hijiki]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Kodansha encyclopedia of Japan|volume=6|publisher=Kōdansha|isbn=978-0-87011-620-9|year=1983|page=[https://archive.org/details/kodanshaencyclop0000koda/page/37 37]|quote=The word nori is used in Japan both as a general term for seaweed and as a name for a species of red algae (Pyropia tenera) that is commonly used as a foodstuff and is also known as asakusa-nori.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/kodanshaencyclop0000koda/page/37}}</ref> One of the earliest descriptions of nori is dated to around the eighth century. In the [[Taihō Code]] of 701 CE, ''nori'' was already included in the form of taxation.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Nisizawa|first=Kazutosi|author2=Noda, Hiroyuki |author3=Kikuchi, Ryo |author4= Watanabe, Tadaharu |title=The main seaweed foods in Japan|journal=Hydrobiologia|date=September 1987|volume=151-152|issue=1|pages=5–29|doi=10.1007/BF00046102|s2cid=39736004|quote=In the Law of Taiho (AD 701) which was established by the Emperor at that time, marine algae such as Laminaria, Undaria and its sporophyll, Pyropia and Gelidium are included among marine products which were paid to the Court as tax.}}</ref> Local people were described as drying nori in the ''[[Hitachi Province]] [[Fudoki]]'' (721–721 CE), and harvesting of nori was mentioned in the ''[[Izumo Province]] Fudoki'' (713–733 CE).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vQc3AAAAMAAJ|quote=There is a description "local people were drying nori" in Hitachi Province fudoki (721–721), and also there is a description "nori was harvested" in [[Izumo Province]] fudoki (713–733). These show nori was used as food from ancient times.|title= 和漢古典植物考 (Japanese and Chinese Classical Botany)|first=Terayama |last=Hiroshi| publisher=asaka Shobō|year= 2003 |page=588|isbn=9784896948158}}</ref> In the ''[[Utsubo Monogatari]]'', written around 987 CE, ''nori'' was recognized as a common food.

===Modern===
Nori had been consumed as paste form until the sheet form (''ita-nori'' 板海苔) was invented in [[Asakusa]], [[Tokyo]], around 1750 in the [[Edo period]] through the method of [[Washi|Japanese paper-making]].<ref name=Nori>{{cite book |title=海苔 |trans-title=Nori |first=Akira |last=Miyashita |publisher=Hosei University Press |isbn=978-4588211119 |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V_IwAQAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref name=katada1989>{{cite book |title=浅草海苔盛衰記 |trans-title=Asakusa nori rise and fall |first=Minoru |last=Katada |publisher=Seizando-Shoten Publishing |year=1989 |isbn=978-4425822515 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jjw0AQAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite　book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWLTngEACAAJ&dq&hl=en |title=The Japanese kitchen: 250 recipes in a traditional spirit|first= Hiroko |last=Shimbo |publisher= Harvard Common Press|year= 2001 |isbn= 1558321772|quote=Unlike wakame, kombu, and hijiki, which are sold in the form of individual leaves, nori is sold as a sheet made from small, soft, dark brown algae, which have been cultivated in bays and lagoons since the middle of the Edo Era (1600 to 1868). The technique of drying the collected algae on wooden frames was borrowed from famous Japanese paper-making industry.|page=128}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=After 40-year no-show, famed Asakusa nori makes comeback |newspaper=The Asahi Shimbun |date=January 6, 2005 |quote=Inspired by Japanese paper-making, fishermen processed harvested seaweed into thin, square-shaped sheets. |url=http://www.asahi.com/english/nation/TKY200501060116.html}}</ref>

The word "''nori''" first appeared in an English-language publication in ''C.&nbsp;P. Thunberg's Trav.'', published in 1796.<ref name=OED>{{cite web|title=Nori|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/128255|publisher=Oxford English Dictionary, Third Edition|access-date=25 March 2013|date=September 2012}}</ref> It was used in conjugation as "''Awa nori''", probably referring to what now is called "''aonori''", i.e., [[green laver]].<ref name=OED/>

When Japan was in need of high food production after [[World War II]], production of nori was in decline. They sought to cultivate nori in addition to traditional wild harvesting from the sea. Due to a lack of understanding of nori's three-stage life cycle, however, those attempting to produce nori artificially did not understand why their cultivation methods were not being productive with nori. The industry was rescued by knowledge derived from the work of British [[Phycology|phycologist]] [[Kathleen Mary Drew-Baker]], who had been researching the organism ''Porphyria umbilicalis'' that grew in the seas around Wales and was harvested for food ([[laverbread]]), as in Japan. Her work was discovered by Japanese scientists who applied it to artificial methods of seeding and growing the nori, rescuing the industry. Kathleen Baker was hailed in Japan as the "Mother of the Sea" and a statue was erected in her memory.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Graber |first1=Cynthia |last2=Twilley |first2=Nicola |title=How this British scientist saved Japan's seaweed industry |url=https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/12/japan-seaweed-gastropod-kelp/ |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Constance |last2=Matsuda |first2=Kazuhiko |last3=Sattelle |first3=David B. |title=Dr. Kathleen Drew-Baker, "Mother of the Sea", a Manchester scientist celebrated each year for half a century in Japan |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23943287/ |journal=[[BioEssays]] |year=2013 |publication-date=September 2013 |volume=35 |issue=9 |pages=838–839 |doi=10.1002/bies.201300061 |issn=1521-1878 |pmid=23943287|s2cid=23155509 }}</ref> She is still revered as the savior of the Japanese nori industry.

The word ''nori'' started to be used widely in the United States and the product (imported in dry form from Japan) became widely available at natural food stores and Asian-American grocery stores in the 1960s due to the macrobiotic movement <ref>{{cite news|title=Natural Foods Pioneer Michio Kushi Dies at 88|url=http://www.rafu.com/2015/01/natural-foods-pioneer-michio-kushi-dies-at-88/|access-date=4 February 2016|publisher=The Rafu Shimpo|date=2015-01-07}}</ref> and in the 1970s with the increase of sushi bars and Japanese restaurants.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Allen|first1=Matthew and Rumi Sakamoto|title=Sushi Reverses Course: Consuming American Sushi in Tokyo 寿司逆流−−東京におけるアメリカ風寿司|journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus|date=2011-01-24|volume=9|issue= 5, No. 2|url=http://apjjf.org/-Mathew-Allen/3481|access-date=4 February 2016}}</ref>

In the 21st century, the Japanese nori industry faces a new decline due to increased competition from seaweed producers in China and Korea, and an increase in domestic sales tax.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Oi|first1=Mariko|title=Japan's seaweed harvesters miss out on growth plans|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-31585251|access-date=4 February 2016|agency=BBC News Services|date=2015-02-23}}</ref>

<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px" mode="packed">
Nori tori Hiroshige.jpg|Women gathering ''nori'', print by [[Utagawa Hiroshige|Hiroshige]], 1849
Hiroshige Hundred views Edo 109 Minami-shinagawa samezu kaigan (南品川鮫洲海岸).tif|''Nori'' farm in [[Shinagawa]], by Hiroshige, 1857<ref>[https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/minami-shinagawa-and-samezu-coast-no-109-from-one-hundred-famous-views-of-edo-utagawa-hiroshige-ando-japanese-1797-1858/rwHPko_SmvhcDw Google Arts and Culture, Minami-Shinagawa and Samezu Coast]</ref>
Woman placing seaweed, which is an important item of the Japanese diet, on rack to dry, Japan LCCN2001705652.jpg|A woman drying nori, 1890-1923
Monument Kathleen Mary Drew-Baker.jpg|Monument to [[Kathleen Mary Drew-Baker]] in [[Uto, Kumamoto]]. Her research revived ''nori'' production in Japan.
</gallery>