<P> Fugu is served as sashimi and chirinabe . Some consider the liver to be the tastiest part, but it is also the most poisonous, and serving this organ in restaurants was banned in Japan in 1984 . Fugu has become one of the most celebrated and notorious dishes in Japanese cuisine . </P> <P> Fugu contains lethal amounts of the poison tetrodotoxin in its inner organs, especially the liver, the ovaries, eyes, and skin . The poison, a sodium channel blocker, paralyzes the muscles while the victim stays fully conscious; the poisoned victim is unable to breathe, and eventually dies from asphyxiation . There is no known antidote for fugu poison . The standard treatment is to support the respiratory and circulatory systems until the poison is metabolized and excreted by the victim's body . </P> <P> Researchers have determined that a fugu's tetrodotoxin comes from eating other animals infested with tetrodotoxin - laden bacteria, to which the fish develops insensitivity over time . As such, efforts have been made in research and aquaculture to allow farmers to produce safe fugu . Farmers now produce' poison - free' fugu by keeping the fish away from the bacteria; Usuki, a town in Ōita Prefecture, has become known for selling non-poisonous fugu . </P> <P> The inhabitants of Japan have eaten fugu for centuries . Fugu bones have been found in several shell middens, called kaizuka, from the Jōmon period that date back more than 2,300 years . The Tokugawa shogunate (1603--1868) prohibited the consumption of fugu in Edo and its area of influence . It became common again as the power of the Shōgunate weakened . In western regions of Japan, where the government's influence was weaker and fugu was easier to get, various cooking methods were developed to safely eat them . During the Meiji Era (1867--1912), fugu was again banned in many areas . Fugu is the only food the Emperor of Japan is forbidden by law to eat, for his safety . </P>

Poisonous puffer fish prepared as a delicacy in japan