Kerama Deer

Something I like about the school system here is their concentration on local specialties. This week we went on a snorkeling trip one afternoon, an actual SCUBA dive another. Gardening is taught and so is eisa drumming.

The Kerama deer live on four islands, but Geruma has the most pride for them. So tomorrow the 5th graders are going to a university in Naha to give a presentation about them. They did a practice run-through today. Their 'study' is slightly less than scientific, but it suffices for elementary students. I am unsure what they concluded, but their pictures of deer trails, tracks, and antler rubs were pretty cool.


Something notable about their presentation - and I've seen it in all adult presentations in Japan as well - is that they don't use bullet points. Instead, they put all of the text on the visual aids (or Powerpoint slides) and just read from them. I'm not sure if it works, but I know there is less eye contact.

[Here's a Kerama deer crossing at low tide between Fukaji and Geruma islands]

Getting in Trouble in Japan

Today I learned a new Japanese word that I wish I hadn't: だいじけん (daijiken). It means "big [bad] event or happening."

So I often get invited to play dodgeball after lunch with the kids. And it's hard for me to play softly, so I reserve my energy and throw the balls with all my might at the junior high kids, who can take the hits. I know what you're thinking - no, I didn't take out a little kid (though I have done that before). Instead, I threw the ball hard at the j.h. boy and it was a good throw, sailing through the air chest high. But it cruised right past him and kept on going, the full length of the gym. It maintained its height over the stage and right into the [plastic] "stained glass" artwork the kids had made for the previous year's graduating class. The stained glass is made of thin colored plastic and is backlit at all the assemblies and events. It looks pretty nice, unless it has a hole in it.

[second panel in, lower left]

At the time it wasn't too big a deal - it could later be easily fixed with cellophane tape. So we strung the net across the stage (the fatal flaw the first time around) and kept playing. Afterwards, the kids streamed back to their classrooms and told the story "Guess what David-sensei did!?"

It didn't take but a few minutes for a teacher to take charge and make the kids gather together for an apology to the principal. And I had to go, too. We all filed into the teachers' room together and one of the j.h. kids reluctantly stepped up to explain what happened. I think I was supposed to speak, but I really didn't know what to say, so I stayed quiet.

[I got lucky in avoiding all the intricate patterns]

I understood what the j.h. student was saying and I was flabbergasted that she never said my name. She absorbed the blame into the entire group, which was very Japanese (and nice) of her. And the teachers didn't ask who did it - it was the responsibility of the whole group to remember to string the protective net across beforehand.

I asked later if I could help fix the stained glass, but a teacher told me it might happen tomorrow or Friday because the kids need some time 'to think about it'. I feel terrible, of course, because this was completely my fault. We were playing in a safe direction, then switched lengthwise and nobody remembered the net. They're kids. We were all high-strung and having a good time. It's easily fixable. I don't think they'll mope too long, though - inside they all know whose fault it really was.

The Significance of The Fish

I did a little thinking today about that tuna. I pondered how long it must have lived and how good it must have become at feeding on smaller fish. I wondered how many lines it had been on the end of - and broken off - before it met its end with a rope tied to a boat.

Then I went to the significance of the fish to Zamami.

Last night, after the party ended past 11pm, the fisherman reboarded his boat and took off for Naha. When you've got a fish that big you want to get it to market as soon as possible. So this morning it was officially weighed in at 257 kilograms, or 567 pounds. Today it was on a plane to Japan and tomorrow morning it will go to the auction block in Kumamoto.

That fish will then travel to a restaurant or, more likely, a few restaurants. Tomorrrow night many Japanese people will be eating it as sashimi for dinner. They won't know where it came from or what story it carries, just that they are paying a nice price for nice fish.

If you are a visitor to a Japanese fish market you will see tuna like this and many more a few steps down on the size ladder. But without the perspective of what it takes to catch one, it's hard to appreciate the story, or even imagine it. Zamami understands, which is why there were 60 people who brought beer and aomori (Okinawan sake) and were playing drums and the sanshin when the fisherman arrived at 10:30 last night. It's a big deal here. And it's how markets such as that for sashimi impact families and communities [and fisheries].

A Huge Yellowfin Tuna

Nevermind that marlin story (below), check out this tuna!

I got word a few hours ago that a big tuna was caught by a local Zamami commercial fisherman today and he was expected to arrive back around 10pm. Luckily my apartment affords a front-row seat to the marina, so when cars, scooters, bikes, people, and dogs started streaming by at 10:10pm, I knew his arrival was imminent.

[About 60 people, or 10% of the village's population came to welcome home the fisherman]

His tuna was rough-guessed by him at 200kg (440lbs.). Some details were sketchy because of the language barrier and the excitement/drunkenness of my informant, but I think it took about an hour to get the fish in. He caught it using a rope and presumably some heavy monofilament leader and live bait. He didn't have a pole/reel or use an electric reel, but rather he fought the fish with his boat (and it still took an hour!). When he got it close he had to spear it, then get it (somehow!) through a gate that opens on the side of the boat.

[A fish this size is once-in-a-lifetime, even for a commercial fisherman. I was lucky just to be able to witness it - note in this picture that he had to cut off the tail to get the fish in the hatches]

Daichi (fisherman, green shirt) and his wife. This is a big moment for them. A fish this big caught in Aomori prefecture (north of Japan) would bring in $50-60,000+, but the fat content of those tuna is ideal for sashimi. Okinawan tuna is leaner and I was told this fish will probably bring in under $10,000. But that's more money than I made today.

Another Weekend, Another Marlin

Yesterday was a perfect weather day: rare breaths of wind and flat water. But that didn't translate into awesome fishing. We had one marlin trip two outriggers (left, overhead) at 9:30am as we were chasing a school of feeding bonito, then we dried up for 5.5 hours. Five-and-a-half hours is a long time to troll around on a hot day with nothing happening. It's longer when you only got 6 hours of sleep the night before.


But at 3:10pm the right flat (not an outrigger) pole went off. The marlin stayed shallow and jumped a lot. As we were bringing in the other poles a second marlin hit the left outrigger and went deep and hard. It was a big marlin that snapped the line after two minutes.

[I sneaked this picture in during the final approach]

[I haven't missed yet, so I've moved into the role of 'first spear' (of two, which are then followed with two flying gaffs - the big hooks)]

[70kg blue marlin, 40 minute fight]

Beachcombing

Along with 13-hour kayak-based fishing trips (two Saturdays in a row) come breaks on beaches. I don't stop on beaches without scouring them. When I get to faraway islands - places where I will likely be the only person to visit this year - I stop at every beach and take my time. But I've brought home a lot of useful crap in the last year, so I'm ever more selective about what I'll pick up. Something I find myself doing is upgrading previous finds. My 14 garden containers, rain water collection buckets, and compost box came from the beach. Two weeks ago I found a fantastic bucket fresh off a fishing boat and two solid plastic crates that I brought home so I could 'trade up'. Here are some my more unique/useful finds this year:

[all of these from last Saturday - this is about a quarter of my scavenged fishing float collection]

[these are more rare than you'd think from reading my blog, but I seem to keep finding them: one each from the last two Saturdays]

[yep, a {mostly} air/watertight bottle full of instant coffee! If guests won't drink it, I'll gladly use it in occasional recipes]

Zamami's New Mayor

Overshadowed by Sunday's marlin fishing trip was Zamami's mayoral election. The man who was predicted to win won. He is the father of two of my favorite Zamami students and husband to the woman who sponsors my Naha food orders, so I know their family well. I don't know how he'll do as mayor, but I know I want to write him a letter (in Japanese!) about some aesthetic improvements Zamami could make.

The election ended at 8pm and the counting was done around 9:30pm. I happened by Satoru's house when the results were being read. The old mayor gave a speech and there was much uninhibited jubilition by his campaign. The new mayor then immediately left to take a boat over to Aka to thank them for voting for him.

I tried to ask what the vote count was, but the girl mistook my question for "how much money should I contribute as congratulations?" She forwarded the question to Yukibo-san, the boat captain. He said "no worries, our contribution is the marlin!" (Another point for fishing!)

[a marlin-full of sashimi]

[work's not going to be any fun for these guys tomorrow]

[really I just went to take pictures of the marlin - oh, but the old mayor is rear-left and the new mayor's father is rear-right. Both congratulated me, but I'm not sure why]