Hysterically Funny! Squirrel Fishing in Japan!

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers


Well, it looks like squirrel fishing is back in the news. I first wrote about it way back in 2004 on Lew Rockwell:

There we got more beer and a bag of peanuts and prepared for the craze that’s sweeping the nation: "Risu no tsuri." Risu no tsuri translates into: Squirrel fishing. Yep, you read right.

Squirrel fishing got popular in Japan about 1997 and has captured the imagination of all the Japanese children who love cute squirrels; as well as the imaginations of the very bored or twisted people living in Japan, like Taro and myself.

What you do is, see, you get some peanuts and tie them to a long string. Then you throw the peanuts on the ground near an area where the squirrels are running around. Then you just wait.

The waiting in the park is the hard part. Because after all that beer, it’s at least a 200-meter walk to the outhouse.

When Mr. Squirrel comes near the peanut, you start pulling the peanut towards yourself. Squirrels are not too smart and they will usually run after the peanut and grab hold. Once they grab it, you just reel them in!

The first one to "catch" a squirrel by lifting him off the ground is the winner!

Now, I have found this great video that verifies what I wrote about. It is pretty hilarious. As Weird News Asia reports:

Ever since 1997, Japanese men, women, and children have been fishing for squirrels as a fun and harmless pastime.[...]
The goal of squirrel fishing is to lift a squirrel into the air using only a fishing pole with a nut tied to a string as bait. The fishing pole can either be a real fishing pole, or simply a long stick tied to a rope. Either way, the pole is cast in front of a hungry squirrel in the hope that he will jump for it and latch on, allowing the fisherman or fisherwoman to raise the furry little critter off the ground and into the air.

(Via Neatorama)

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Keywords. squirrel, fishing, Marketing Japan, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Mike Rogers