- Title: JAPAN: An aquarium in Japan holds a fishy Halloween.
- Date: 4th November 2006
- Summary: (L!1) YOKOHAMA, JAPAN (OCTOBER 27, 2006) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF HAKKEI-JIMA SEA PARADISE AQUARIUM
- Embargoed: 19th November 2006 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Nature / Environment
- Reuters ID: LVAYC30VX5FM5QV131JGXSXENGF
- Story Text: Halloween can get a little fishy at the Hakkei-jima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, Japan.
About 5,000 glimmering fish seem to magically transform themselves into a trick-or-treating pumpkin.
These are yellow-striped butterfish -- a treat for both the dolphins that share their tank and the Japanese that watch their little routine. A culinary website describes them as fatty and delicious when grilled with salt or sun-dried.
Fortunately, the fish are too busy with their performance to care.
While the eyes and mouth of the pumpkin are actually made of paper and the fish were directed by a frogman with a pail of treats, that didn't stop the audience from being mesmerised by the show.
"It did look like a Jack-O-Lantern. I liked it," said Akemi Tanaka, 50, who lives near the Yokohama aquarium.
Another visitor Namie Okuyama, who brought her one-year-old son Tatsuki to the aquarium this day, said she didn't get the best angle to see the fishy Jack-O-Lantern.
"I only saw it from the side so, to me, it didn't look like the real thing," Okuyama said. "But my son seemed to be enjoying it."
Halloween is relatively new to Japan, but more and more Japanese have been introduced to the holiday due to the influence of the U.S. media. Some shopping streets are lined with pumpkins and bats this season, and in recent years one can even see Japanese children costumed out on October 31st, prowling neighbours for trick-or-treats.
"Halloween is a relatively new concept to Japanese people, but we thought it could be very interesting in terms of decoration and visuals. That's why our aquarium started featuring Halloween-related shows this year," said Osamu Masubuchi, spokesman for the Hakkei-jima Sea Paradise aquarium.
Originally a pagan harvest festival called Samhain by the Irish celebrated on the last day of October, it became Halloween after the Catholic church moved All Saints Day or All Hallows day to November 1st. in the eighth century A.D. The day before All Saints Day thus became All Hallows' eve and eventually Halloween.
But few Japanese, and presumably few westerners too, know of the pagan origins of Halloween and the similarity with the Japanese Obon. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
