Swimming Bones Sashimi (Video)

Here’s a cool bit of Japanese TV that the Digg-ers dugg up. It features a dish called “swimming bones” sashimi. Basically, the sushi chef fillets the fish nice and quick, and drops its quickly diminishing self back into the tank. Like Anthony Hopkins dining on Ray Liotta’s brains while he’s alive, this is partly disturbing and partly awesome. Enjoy.

Freaky, cool, and tasty. This dish is now on my list of things to try. Anyone else interested in partaking of this gastronomic spectacle?

20 comments - What do you think? Posted by Deas - April 28, 2007 at 7:56 pm

Categories: General Japan, Japanese TV, Odd / Strange Tags:

jamie

that is fucking cruel. i’m 25% japanese and that made me ashamed of my heritage. i’m glad i’m a vegan.
Al

This is totally cruel. I eat sushi, I understant catching fish for food but this cruelty is totally unnecessary. Come on, man, if you want to eat fish – you should eat it. What’s the point to watch a mutilated creature that’s still alive. This is inhumane and wrong on so many levels. Do you want to eat or do you want to enjoy a needless agony of an innocent creature? Makes me sick.

It’s like I’d go and ask this chef to make some sushi for me but before he starts I’d break his hands. So I’ll have sushi and admire the fortitude and dedication of the master who can cook with his hands broken. You’d probably think I’m a cruel guy. Now how the hell is what this chef does to a fish different?

Whoever takes part in this event should really be ashamed

Karisu

You should be ashamed for suggesting harm come to a human. There’s something wrong with people when they care more for the betterment of animals than other humans.
the overthinker

The key difference I think is that you do not eat the sushi chef….

However I agree that it is completely needless cruelty (assuming the fish can feel anything by this stage). I enjoy eating meat, but like the animals to be killed with a minimum of fuss.

helical

According to the narration, fish have no pain receptors. Somehow I find that hard to believe that a biological being evolved no sense of pain…
Tadashi

This is weird…
that people don’t freak out if their lunch is watching them.

@Al
About you breaking a sushi chef’s hands, this is plain stupid. People getting furious about persons treating animals wrong is one thing, but those saying, these persons should be beat up/killed/get the same treatment, are the worst.
madne0

helical: the debate of whether fish feel pain or not is, believe it or not, still wide open. A quick search of google found multiple sources arguing for both sides.
Either way, it seems pretty brutal to me…Why didn’t the guy just kill the thing outright? Does it grow new meat for the eating?
Kirin

That actually looks really good. I don’t know what the previous commentors are freaking out about.

Anyone have an idea of how expensive this is?

The Unkown

“I don’t know what the other commentors are freaking out about”

It’s called “humanity”. Look it up.

http://www.rockinginhakata.com Deas

No, The Unknown, I don’t think it’s a such a big question of humanity – or more clearly, humaneness. I understand people not wanting to watch the fish die, but I imagine that most of them would be more than happy to eat it if they didn’t have to watch its death throes. Either way. I’m decidedly with Kirin on this one. It looks tasty, and I am not really bothered by it. I’m not sure how expensive it is. I imagine slightly pricey – the (debatable good or bad) novelty of it probably drives up the price. And anything once featured on TV suddenly becomes more expensive. I’m still game for trying it, though.
helical

I could start by saying something about where there’s a Buddhist thing where seeing the being still alive while eating it gives a greater sense of connection and enhances the spirit of gratitude toward the life being taken for yourself.

But I just made that up.

I personally don’t mind this. I might care if they fish were obviously writhing in agony or something, but looking at the video, it seems pretty oblivious that most of it’s body is missing.
“Hmm, I suddenly can’t swim very well… oh look at that. That guy is eating something …. that looks like part me? Dude, that’s totally weird.”

the overthinker

So are they breeding fish now that want to be eaten, like in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?

Da Kappa

If only there was a way to medically treat the fish so that they can reanimate the parts taken away (similarly to the tail of a lizard: they can regenerate it’s tail for those who didn’t know btw). If not, then I agree that it is unneccessary and (more than anything) watching that fish while eating it would be a barometer of one’s own humane conciousness.

The scene of Hannibal Lecter eating the brains of his victim (in Silence of the Lamb) comes to mind. Perhaps it started from something like this (to a mind of a child this could cause enough trauma to spawn the likes of H.L.). But I digress.

http://www.rockinginhakata.com Deas

Yeah, I mentioned the similarity of the Hannibal scene in the text of the post. But the chef in the video claims that he got the idea from some manga he’d read, not from Hollywood. Just thought I’d throw that in.

Model_X

OMG! This is so cruel…pls just kill the fish and eat it. Don’t torture it.
gargoyle1

I’ve seen this before on other sites. Am I the only one who thinks this is fake?
Spinzoa

While I do agree that it is cruel, and if I had a choice as a customer, I’d ask for him to kill the fish immediately…but then again, I’m also not bothered by it.

I do understand that a lot of people have logical sympathy towards the fish, wanting to respect it’s peace, at least, what it can have as a captive food, but I’m not sure if people should get too angry over it. I mean..if it’s part of their culture, who are we to argue.

I’ve seen some incidents where few Asian country, or small cultural group has been using animal products in a way where many people seem to jump up and down over how cruel it is. But then again that is part of their culture, and that is what they have been practicing. It might not be something cruel to them.

Besides, I’m sure there are a lot of things that we and the others do that will anger or bother people of other culture as well, who won’t really be able to fully understand.

wes

… it’s just something being done in a shop, not part of a culture. and what do you mean who are we to argue? what makes culture so infallible in your opinion?

Pablo

Humans love to torture… we are so primitive!
Hellcat

seriously, don’t we all have better things to worry about than the welfare of a few fucking frogs? do you know how annoying frogs are? has anyone tried to sleep during frog mating season near any major body of water? that gets old quick. Besides, think of the relative numbers. how many people actually get the nerve to try a live(somewhat), squirming dish made of FROG? so maybe 100 frogs a year for a successful shop like that? Anyone know the size of the frog population for whatever species they used?

come on. there are people dying of horrible illnesses, famines and disease all over the globe. who the fuck honestly cares about the welfare of a couple frogs? What if all those rabid fucks in PETA focused their zeal on ending world hunger? Eliminating AIDS? Stopping child abuse?

you guys are the ones that ought to be ashamed of yourselves. have a sense of goddamned priorities. quit complaining about a few cut up frogs and do something WORTHWHILE.

Swimming Bones Sashimi (Video)

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