Goldfish scooping

nihongo|Goldfish scooping|金魚すくい, 金魚掬い|Kingyo-sukui is a Japanese traditional game in which a player scoops goldfish with a special scooper. It is also called, "Scooping goldfish", "Dipping for goldfish" or "Snatching goldfish". "Kingyo" means goldfish and "sukui" means scooping. Sometimes bouncy balls are substituted for goldfish. Japanese summer festivals or ennichi commonly have a stall. Not only children but also adults enjoy this game. Basically, this game is for pleasure, but today, there is a national competition of goldfish scooping in Japan.

Rules

This is an individual game. The basic rule is that a player scoops goldfish from a pool with a scooper called "poi" and brings them to a bowl with it. This game demands players’ carefulness and quickness, because the poi can be easily torn. The game is over when the poi is totally broken. Even if one part of the poi is torn, the player can continue the game with other part of it.

At ennichi or summer festival stalls, the game is not a competition: it costs a participation fee, 100yen or so, and players can take scooped goldfish to their home with a special bag. The game is unlimited, so players can scoop until their pois are completely broken. If they cannot scoop even one goldfish, sometimes the shopkeeper of the stall will kindly give them two or so. Each stall usually has its own rule. For example, there are some stalls where players can get a stronger poi if they pay more. Other stalls give players special presents if they scoop a lot.

At National Championship of Scooping Goldfish, players follow the official rules that are different from above (see National Championship of Scooping Goldfish).

The things necessary to play goldfish scooping is a pool which goldfish swim in, a poi, a bowl to keep scooped goldfish, a special bag with which to bring goldfish home, and goldfish themselves.

* Pool
Usually, goldfish is in a small plastic pool about 1m² and 20cm depth.

*
Poi consists of a round plastic frame and handgrip, and paper on the frame. Poi’s paper can easily break when poi is put into water, so players should not move poi fast. There are some classes in poi's paper; nihongo|No.5|5号 is weaker, and nihongo|No.7|7号 is stronger. In some stalls, staffs have unbreakable pois which consist of net instead of paper to scoop goldfish.

* Bowl
The bowl is usually made of plastic and half sphere shape, and the diameter is about 15cm.
This is used to put goldfish scooped up.
* Bag
If players get goldfish, they can bring them home with special bags.

* Goldfish
Varieties of goldfish often used in goldfish scooping are "Koaka", "Demekin", and "Anekin".See detailed article: Goldfish.

History

This game started in the late Edo period, around 1810s. In those days, pois were made of nets, and it was one of the children's plays. Pois came to be made of paper and stalls started it in Taishō period, around 1910s.The game became more and more popular, and National Championship of Scooping Goldfish began in 1995. Today, it is so popular that people will surely see the stall at ennichi or summer festivals in Japan. On the other hand, it becomes a serious problem that scooped goldfish are not properly bred in players' home.

National Championship of Goldfish Scooping

nihongo|National Championship of Scooping Goldfish|全国金魚すくい選手権大会 is the biggest official competition managed by National Scooping Goldfish Association and Yamatokōriyama city in Nara Prefecture (Yamatokōriyama is famous as a producing district of goldfish.) It is held on the third Saturday and Sunday in August every year. This year (2007), 13th championship was held and 1116 people participated in it. It has three sections.

* Children section: competition by children who are under 15

* General section: competition by people whose age is 15 and up

* Group section: competition for the sum number of the goldfish scooped by a team of three people
There are area trials and the first and second in every section can participate in National Championship. Extraordinarily in Nara trials, 60 people in child section, 80 people in ordinary section and 40 groups in group section can participate in it. The rule is detailed; size of goldfish, poi and pool, the number of umpire and so on. They compete with the number of goldfish scooped in three minutes. If the paper of poi is completely broken, the game is over and the score is the number of goldfish scooped until then. By the way in the tenth championship (2004) a player scooped 61 goldfish in three minutes in the semifinal. [ [http://www.city.yamatokoriyama.nara.jp/kingyo/sukui/kiroku/10.htm A record page in National Championship of Goldfish Scooping's official page (in Japanese)] ] (This is a new high and that comes to the average of one goldfish per three seconds.) However she was the very bottom in the final.

Technique

There are some basic technique for goldfish scooping.

* Do not chase a goldfish with the poi.
It may be obvious that the paper will easily break if the player moves the poi violently in the water.

* Put the whole poi into the water softly and slantingly.
Some people put only a part of it into the water, but it is not right to do. If a player does it, there will be a wet part and the other part on the paper. The boundary of them makes the paper easy to break. Also, water pressure will be greater if the player put the poi into the water with it parallel with the water.

* Considering these technique, players should aim at a goldfish which is near the wall and near the surface.
It is easier to predict the movements of a goldfish near the wall. Moreover, a goldfish has less way to escape from the poi. After a player see these technique, what the player has to do is practice. However, there is advanced technique for people who are familiar with goldfish scooping.

* Make a fixed shadow of yourself in the water.
In general, goldfish have tendency to escape from a temporary shadow. On the other hand, they flock around a steady shadow. To take advantage of this habit of goldfish, players should be still when scooping them.

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.city.yamatokoriyama.nara.jp/kingyo/ National Championship of Goldfish Scooping(in Japanese)]
* [http://www1.kcn.ne.jp/~puni/skill/index.html Technique of Goldfish Scooping(in Japanese)]