Scoop on National Goldfish Scooping Championship

Around 1,500 goldfish enthusiasts converged on Yamatokoriyama, Nara Prefecture, for the 31st National Goldfish Scooping Championship. The event aimed to celebrate the city's reputation as a leading goldfish farming hub and promote Yamatokoriyama as the "goldfish town." Competitors engaged in three-minute individual and team contests, using a traditional scooping tool called a poi to catch as many goldfish as possible without damaging the thin paper surface.

One participant admitted the lively fish made it challenging, while another praised the team's strategy of cornering the fish before scooping them individually. Top finishers received plaques and other prizes. As the championship concluded, Japan prepared for upcoming sporting events, including the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games set to begin in September, and expanded its efforts to attract tourists to the city's nighttime economy.