Our story begins in Japan, at the famous
Tsukiji Fish Market. Our hero? A sword-wielding third-generation wholesale fish-stall owner named
Kazuyoshi Watanabe. Mr. Watanabe is know in particular for his mastery with the treatment of a smaller variety of Tuna -
The Blackfin. Until this spring, his dealings with fish were purely literal... until now!
In the following video -
Kazuyoshi Watanabe and the artisans at his stall,
Sanwa Co., demonstrate the deconstruction of a Blackfin; about which user
jdrw5 comments:
"ある日、私はこのような品質とおいしさのマグロを購入する。今のところ、私は小さい魚の屈辱を被る。ある日、私の刺身の夢が叶うか、私はそのような魚介類を確保する戦いで死んでしまう![One day, I buy the tuna taste and quality like this. For now, I suffer the humiliation of small fish. One day, the dream of my sashimi or come true, I will die in the battle to ensure the seafood like that!]".
What an amazing knife sword! I wonder how long it takes to sharpen? Also, how cool is it that the men at
Sanwa Co. all wear
Adidas tops? (
Mr. Watanabe is dressed in the blue, white, and red stripes and makes an appearance around the
8:30 mark.)
Q: So what's the deal with the beautiful little scaled-down plastic fish bits that they periodically place alongside corresponding tuna parts as they slice the fish apart...?
A: They're pieces of Mr. Watanabe's beautiful Dissectable Maguro [Tuna] produced by Japanese model-toy maker Hobby Stock!
This incredible 10-piece model comes with its own sword-knife and cutting board and the separate tuna pieces fix together with magnets.
I love everything about this! This whole museum-models and learning-tools getting mixed up with playthings and art idea is so cool. I especially appreciate that this thing is sort-of reminiscent of a fishing-lure, and is way less dangerous to play with! This fish will cost you
¥29,400 (around
$300 USD) - not cheap, but certainly more affordable (and fun to hack at) than the real thing.
What a beut!