tairyou

tairyou, originally uploaded by vibromama.

Last week we accidentally discovered the sport of spear fishing. Noticing the simple, cheap, metal-tipped and elastic-equipped implements at the fishing store, we thought it might be fun to give them a try. Well, it seems this sport has a very fast learning curve. Yesterday in just 2 hours I hauled in 8kg of choice fish off the rocky west coast of Amakusa. I felt a bit awkward hauling in one fat fish after another within sight of the sport fishermen perched on the rocks, who in the meanwhile caught nothing. Obviously it is an advantage to be able to see the fish underwater! I am not sure why everyone doesn’t do it this way, though that’s just as well, because then there’d probably be no fish left. Perhaps not everyone can snorkel 10 or 15 meters deep, which is required to get sizeable fish, though there are plenty of people who dive deeper for abalone, etc…but be that as it may, we are in the lucky position once again where we have the entire sea to ourselves! Quite excited by this, we went spearing four times this week, in various places but always with consistent results.


By the evening, the catch had been converted into mountains of sashimi at our friendly neighborhood sushi shop. The master said this catch would be worth about $100 at the fish market, as some of the fish are rarely caught and are much prized as a delicacy. I wonder if I should quit my day job! As it is, quite a few students at the school where we teach went home delighted with a fish, and some classes turned into all-you-can-eat sashimi fests. Though we’re not seriously thinking about selling the fish (yet!), contrary to habit we did not eat out at all this week, thusly saving ourselves at least $100. With a gut full of raw fish, even the nearby KFC has somehow lost its appeal.