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Nov 23 2012 12 Comments

Fugu death

Due to its highly toxic nature, Fugu (or pufferfish) has become one of Japan’s most infamous and well known delicacies. A danger that in many ways isn’t exaggerated either, as 23 people have died after eating it in the last decade or so.

What isn’t recorded, however, is that fugu die too. Sometimes in lonely, but also very public, places.

Fugu (pufferfish) death

Categorized: Food and Drink, Photography

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Martin says

    11/23/2012 at 10:26 am

    I’d be dubious about eating there. 😉

    Reply
    • Lee says

      11/23/2012 at 12:17 pm

      Yeah, dead fish aside, the old and taped up fish tank doesn’t exactly make me want to dash in and sample their food.

      Reply
  2. Magnus369 says

    11/23/2012 at 1:12 pm

    Forgive me for pointing out the obvious… but last time I checked, they die when you eat them too…

    Reply
    • Lee says

      11/23/2012 at 2:14 pm

      Haha, they do indeed!

      For some reason though I found it a strangely sad scene. Perhaps ‘cos it was bobbing about due to the bubbles.

      Reply
      • Magnus369 says

        11/23/2012 at 2:46 pm

        There is that… considering it’s final home was so run down, it’s almost like looking at haikyo for fugu…

        Reply
  3. Hans ter Horst says

    11/23/2012 at 4:45 pm

    At least in Tokyo the restaurants don’t need a license anymore to prepare fugu because of the decline in fatal poisonings. I love that reasoning, similar to: “the number of car deaths on our motorways have declined dramatically, let’s allow drunk driving and forget about wearing seat belts.” 🙂

    Reply
    • Lee says

      11/23/2012 at 6:11 pm

      Yeah, I found that an odd move too, especially as most — if indeed not all — deaths were due to unlicensed, or at least untrained people preparing the fish.

      Reply
  4. Willy says

    11/24/2012 at 2:54 pm

    That’s is a bit of interesting legal stuff there that I was unaware of entirely. Makes you think…
    But I pity the poor fish/lobsters etc in the tanks. Somehow its nice on your plate, but hard to reconcile with its final living conditions. I noticed on many occasions that animal treatment in Asia is at the lower end of the spectrum. Dogs tied up on short leashes that are never walked… cows chained in stalls with no freedom of movement…
    At least if you gonna eat it you should treat it nice before the big ZZZ comes….
    Sorry for the rant!

    Reply
    • Lee says

      11/25/2012 at 2:19 pm

      That’s quite alright. I find it real mixed bag in Japan. Dogs are often treated like spoilt children, yet some pet shops have animals in absolutely appalling conditions.

      And yeah, the loosening of regulations in regards fugu preparation is an odd one. Be interesting to see if the statistics change.

      Reply
  5. Lizzy says

    11/25/2012 at 10:06 am

    Aw 🙁 So sad,

    Reply
    • Lee says

      11/25/2012 at 2:19 pm

      Yeah, it certainly looked that way…

      Reply
  6. Eri says

    6/27/2013 at 9:57 am

    @willy, that is Exactly what I say. I’m not a big meat eater and don’t eat pork anymore at all (one time I was eating pork fried rice and a PETA commercial happened to pop up on tv with pigs and their treatment etc. I ending up throwing up everything I ate and haven’t touched it since) but if I do eat meat or eggs or milk I try to make sure it’s free range or organic and comes from a humane place. For ex I’ve heard of kfc employees kicking chickens, I don’t ear there anymore. Theres no reason u have to make an animals life hell before u kill it to eat it. In a way I find hunting more humane in that u kill what u eat and it’s not mass slaughter.

    On a side note I’m not real thrilled with Japan because of their slaughter of dolphins

    Reply

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