Various varieties of Himono include suboshi (fish left to dry naturally in the sun); niboshi (fish that is boiled then dried); shioboshi (fish, salted and dried); yakiboshi (fish, broiled and dried), and choomiboshi (dried fish seasoned with mirin-sweet sake-or soy sauce). Shioboshi is the most popular of these.

Shioboshi usually consists of dried sardines and a variety of mackerel that is broiled or grilled and eaten with soy sauce and grated giant radish.

ひもの屋: 台東区上野5-19-6.
(Himonoya: 5-19-6 Ueno, Taito Ward.)
Phone: 03/3831 8804. Web: http://e-808.com.
Open from 11.30am to 5am.
December 3, 2006: After my successful date with と last night, I awoke to a sunny and generally pleasant day in Tokyo: this being one of the mildest winters on record. I had an appointment with my old salaryman friend Tanaka san at 4pm; he wanted me to transcribe the lyrics of a Country/Western song his partner was planning to perform in Osaka. I did that, inside the Breaks Cafe at Ueno. Then we moved on through the settling cold and madding crowds, down the bleak concrete lanes, to the Himonoya Restaurant in Okachimachi. Mr Tanaka had spotted the place from the train on the Yamanote Line as he passed on his daily business, and he was keen to check it out. Naturally, the shout was on him.
The servings started with a complementary cabbage -- you better believe it a whole cabbage, which we ate with smearings of slightly spiced up mayo sauce. I am not a green veg buff by any means but this cabbage tasted amazingly good -- "it is fresh," as Mr Tanaka stoically remarked. There followed a series of fish meals -- Mr Tanaka sent one of them back to the kitchen for having too much akaimono (red stuff) inside. Apart from the inevitable dried fish dishes, the menu boasts grilled nasu (eggplant) and 鴨つくね (fried duck) served with what looks suspiciously like a duck's egg. Who says the Japanese weren't adventurous eaters? There are also plenty of onigiri rice balls, some of them of tremendous proportions. Scary! Naturally, a full spread of Japanese rice wine and beers accompany this oldstyle himono feast!