18th Aio World Shrimp Catching Contest

The small seaside town of Aio invites a few foreigners every year to take part in their shrimp catching contest. This is the only way they can call it a "World" Contest. The event started mid morning and began with an early lunch of 焼き肉 (skewered barbecued meat) and 焼きそば (fried soba noodles) kindly prepared by local volunteers. Around 1pm everyone collected the obligatory equipment (a catching net and gardening gloves) and prepared to lunge into the sea. During this time the live shrimp arrived in crates on a truck and were tossed into the sea and onto the beach by event organisers.

Like all Japanese events there was a long and drawn-out opening ceremony during which the 1500 or so competitors of all ages waited patiently behind a rope start-line about 20metres back from the sea. When the starting gun was fired, the rope was dropped and it was a free for all to into the water. Everyone from young kids to grandmothers plunged in and began digging furiously on their hands and knees in the sand in the hope of teasing out the already buried shrimp. The more experienced headed straight for the net barrier in the hope of catching any escaping shrimp which faced an inevitable death of being pulled apart live and eaten raw with soy sauce or being burnt to a crisp on the awaiting barbecues. The event is not for the feint hearted and involves battling with biting jellyfish, nipping crabs, elbowing grandmothers and fast moving shrimp buried so deep in the sand rendering them virtually impossible to catch. Despite this many kids and veteran shrimp catchers were quickly filling their nets, whilst the lagging inexperienced foreigners managed to net on average around 3-4 shrimps in the whole 30 – 40 minute time. The prize for the most shrimp netted was a digital camera and this years world champion reportedly caught over 80 shrimp. Chris Mack managed 35 - a stirling effort, but then again he has been going for the last four years!

As for my effort, I managed a measly 4 shrimp, 3 crabs and a few pretty shells. Poor Rie was bitten by the jellyfish and reacted badly resulting in her early withdrawal. The event seemed to come to a natural end when everyone either gave up through sheer frustration or just let the professionals clear up. Back on the beach everyone enjoyed a harvest of still jumping fresh shrimp (well kinda if you can call shrimp being fished and then put back in the sea and caught again "fresh) pulled apart and eaten 生 (raw) with soy sauce or barbecued. Interestingly the brain is a delicacy in Japan – for all these years, I’ve been missing the best part. Raw live shrimp is very sweet and tasty.

All in all another fun festival and one I was definitely glad I attended in my final year in Japan... well maybe!
Pictures to follow
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