More Fishing Fun

When it comes to bizarre Japanese fishing practices, I thought I’d seen it all when I went on a fishing trip with my school principal a couple of months ago. I mean, what could be stranger than buying a barrel of fish, pouring them into a river, and then fishing them out again?

Well, that question was answered for me a couple of weeks ago at a local autumn fair, in a neighbouring village called Izumi. Here, they went one step further.... Want to do some fishing, but got no river to put your fish in? No problem! Just stick them in the local swimming pool instead!

I watched in amazement as men, woman and children whipped out trout upon trout from the deep end and then proudly took their catch to a giant BBQ for cooking. I’m sorry to report that the fish were not obeying normal pool rules; I saw a couple of teenage trout heavy petting in the corner, but it was ok because the lifeguard didn’t spot them.