Pass the fish?

I went to Matsuyama this week. When I arrived, I met up with some people for dinner at a local restaurant.

Things started off fine with lots of small dishes with vegetables or raw fish (like the silvery stuff above). I'm a fan of sushi and even like raw fish by itself.

But I wasn't prepared for the fish bowl.

The waitress brought out a bowl that had fish, fresh fish, so fresh they were swimming. Yes, you read that right, they were swimming.



Each of us were given a small bowl with a vinegar based sauce. We were supposed to scoop up some fishies and put them in our bowl. They "drink" up the sauce, and then you eat them.

I was willing to try one. Here is a picture of my fish - sorry it is blurry. My hands were not very steady at this point of the evening.


I picked up the little guy and downed him in a gulp.

By the time they brought out the seashell filled with mystery meat, I didn't blink an eye.