This dish has been around in Tokyo for a long time, but is a bit tricky because of its large size.
There is a trick to skewering the skewers, and you should not just skewer a bunch of skewers without knowing what you are doing.

First, the skewers should be struck so that they form a fan shape. After that, no matter how many skewers you hit, as long as the center of the skewer is at the key point of the fan, you can hit the skewer as you like. This way, it is convenient to hold in your hand and you do not have to worry about the skewer breaking every time you handle it even if it is burnt. If you see it in action, you will be convinced at a glance. 　In Tokyo, ama-dai is called kozu-dai, and the best ama-dai is caught in the seas around Shizuoka. In the Kansai region, ama-odai is known as guji, which comes from Hokuriku and Wakasa, but it is quite different from kozu-odai because it lives in the Hokuriku sea and eats Hokuriku sea food. At first glance, the ama-dai called okitsu-dai and the guji, or sweet sea bream from the Sea of Japan, appear to be the same, but the Wakasa variety is light red and pink in color, while the ama-dai called okitsu-dai is as red as a regular sea bream. While the guji can be eaten with its scales roasted, the kozu-dai must be peeled off before eating.

The guji is eaten with the scales intact, which is what makes it so tasty, and is appreciated by some people. I once happened to be served grilled kozu-dai with scales at a restaurant in Tokyo, but this was a monkey imitation and a big mistake. This was a monkey business and a big mistake. Grilling the whole fish with the scales is a mistake from the beginning. It is not useless to know that the guji of Wakasa has such a fancy way of eating. There is also a type of kotsu-dai called shirokawa (white skin). The white skin is not red like the usual ones, but light pink or white, and is twice or three times more expensive than the usual sea bream at the fish market in Tokyo. That is why it is such a delicious fish. It is not eaten raw because of its tender flesh, but when it is grilled, it is a magnificent fish. 　Kyushu’s shirokawa (white skin) is rare in the Kanto region, but when you go from Kyushu to the Gotō Islands, you will find it in abundance. They bring them salted, but they are very tasteless and therefore inexpensive. Sometimes they are one-fifth to one-tenth the price of regular amadai. Because of its large size, Odawara uses it to make kamaboko (fish cake).

Since they use it so much that they bring it by train, Odawara’s current fish cakes have lost their old appearance, with their color and flavor being stale. The ama-dai, which is originally a high-class fish, has lost its flavor because of the time it has spent in the remote area. When eaten in its native land, it is, of course, delicious. 　I once had this fish in Naples, Italy, and found it to be very tasty in a foreign country where there was no such thing as good fish.