The Traditional Japanese Ceremony that Involves Women Feeding Booze to Fish

An annual ceremony held in the Japanese city of Tonami has attracted the ire of animal lovers after it became widely known that fish were being force-fed delicious rice wine in an attempt to ward off spirits.

Tonami is mostly known throughout Japan for its excellent hot air ballooning and annual tulip festival. But it turns out then when not hot air ballooning or gardening, Tonami's 30-something female inhabitants like nothing better than getting fish drunk.

The ceremony became known across Japan after a television show featuring the ceremony was aired on television network Asahi TV, RocketNews24 reports. The so-called Carp Releasing Exorcism supposedly cleanses people of evil spirits. Some superstitious Japanese people believe that the most unlucky age for a woman is 33, and 42 for a man. Japanese men and women approaching these ages will take part in the fish ceremony in the hope of swerving this bad luck. (Really, though, 2016 was a shitty year, luck-wise, for everyone—regardless of age.)

The ceremony involves captured carp being made to drink from a bottle of rice wine before being dumped back in the river. Men hold the carp firmly—struggling, mouths agape, clearly teetotalers by inclination—while the women pour the wine, known as nihonshu, into their mouths. You can only hope that, like Nemo, the half-drunk fish eventually find their way home.

The segment aired to outrage on Twitter and message boards such as 2channel, according to RocketNews24. "Is this really necessary?" one user wrote. "It just seems like abuse," commented another. "I don't think they should do this anymore," a third opined plaintively. But is getting your friendly neighborhood carp drunk on alcohol really that bad?

"If the dosage is sufficient," comments Dr Steve Simpson of the University of Exeter, "the ceremony is likely to lead to the fish becoming 'drunk,' much like humans." But this might not be a wholly negative thing. Simpson points to research showing that putting fish in diluted alcohol can have a positive effect. "The fish swim faster, fear and hesitation are suppressed, and they show greater boldness—adopting a greater leadership role—when returned to the school." Sober fish are even willing to follow these reckless, vainglorious fish. "Sadly, as with humans," he adds, "ongoing exposure leads to less social behavior as adults."

Look, I'm not here to point fingers, but it does seem these fish are being force-fed drink, which doesn't seem exactly consensual. So in the interests of journalistic impartiality and piscine bodily autonomy, I reached out to a second expert for confirmation that it's okay to booze with your pet goldfish.

"When I was a kid, whenever one of my goldfish started looking sickly, I would splash a little whisky into their tank. It rarely failed to perk them up, and I'm convinced it extended their lives on many occasions," says Professor Callum Roberts of the University of York.

In an entirely welcome piece of further information, Roberts adds, "Fish in experimental settings also can be taught to respond to rewards of amphetamines, or opiates like cocaine, so they can get high too."

That said, drinking like a fish won't cure your bad luck—even if you are a fish. But if your regular drinking buddy isn't taking your calls, why not pop into a pet store on your way home from work?