"Markets."

Wednesday 17th October. Day 83. Mist and cloud. Later warm and overcast.

Breakfast delicacies included "age shio yaki" which is salt broiled "age" a small fish, possibly trout. There was also egg roll.

Toshiharu drove us a few kilometres north on the Kagoshima road to see the fish market (uo-ichiba) at Furuye. The fish market was a large concrete floored building at the edge of an artificial harbour in Kagoshima Bay.
A few workmen were hosing the floor and generally waiting for something to do. They posed happily for photographs with Toshiharu. Some women were sweeping inedible remains of fish into piles which several angry-eyed cats were jealously guarding.
In the sea in the distance could be seen fish farms with boats attending them. Presently a boat drew up beside the fish market and refrigerated boxes of fish were unloaded. The fish were all about seventy five centimetres long. They were removed from the refrigerated box, weighed and packed three to a smaller crate. The weight of the fish and the name of the boat was written on the outside of the crate, ice was sprinkled around the fish, the top went on, and the crate was ready for transport to the fish markets in Tokyo or Osaka. Each fish would be worth about fifteen thousand Yen. They are meant for sushi.

Back home we had a morning tea of green tea, persimmons, and small foil wrapped snacks like a lolly, but it was tuna. Sometimes they are made of whale meat.
Then Ritsuko took us to see the cattle market. The surrounding country-side is an important cattle raising area. Ritsuko found with difficulty somewhere to park the car and we walked to the market.
At the time foot and mouth disease had caused a world-wide scare in the cattle industry, and that scare had come to Kanoya. As a precaution, vehicles entering the market had to drive through a bath of some sort of disinfectant. At the same time, a spraying device emitted a mist of disinfectant that was supposed to cover the entire vehicle. A number of cars and pick-ups drove through in such a way (quickly or close behind one another) so as to miss the spray entirely.
This market was for 9 month old cattle. We eventually found the office and someone who could tell us what to do and what to see. To go into the office, everyone had to change from shoes to slippers; then to leave the office and go into the cattle-yards, everyone had to change from slippers to white rubber boots. There were tubs of disinfectant at the bottom of every set of steps, but we were not asked to use these.
In the yards, the 9 month old cattle were waiting in pens, attended by their owners, for their numbers to be called. When called, a beast was led to a crush where it was held while a chain was attached to its halter. The other end of the chain was held by wheels running on an overhead track. The animals could only move along in order and under control towards the auction room.
Naturally, there was a great deal of bovine distress and resentment, and the air was full of anxious bellowing: the more determined beasts made futile attempts to escape. Ritsuko turned to us with tears in her eyes and said, "I am feeling sad. Do you understand why?".
Colin recalls trying to comfort her by explaining that, up to the present, the young bulls had had happy lives, protected in the fields, and now there was to be no tiresome lingering in hospitals or homes for the elderly; they were going directly to oblivion through sudden death.
This explanation, not enirely quite so comforting as intended, turned out to be laughably at odds with the facts; for we soon discovered that, far from going through the auction room to their deaths, the young bulls were being bought by large grazing enterprises, to spend the rest of their lives in procreation.
Adroitly avoiding a beast that had managed to turn right around despite the chain, we went back through the office, exchanging our boots for slippers, up some stairs and found ourselves in the auction theatre. The auctioneers were sitting in an open office below us. The buyers sat below us like the audience at a play. The buyers had some way of communicating with the auctioneers.
As each animal made its entry, its number, weight, and other details appeared on a large screen, like a scoreboard. Bidding began, and proceeded very quickly. One could see the ascending price on the screen. Finally the buyer's number and the price paid appeared on the screen. After the sale, the animal went out on the same track system, into the buyers' yard where each buyer has a pen to receive his purchases.
Back in the office, Ritsuko was given a large parcel of beef to take home. Seeing the two markets made for a most interesting day. Colins's brother, Ken is a beef producer in Victoria and I collected printed materials to show him what was happening at Kanoya. Queenscliff is a seaside town and has been a well-known commercial fishing port in its time; though now most of the fishing is done by amateurs.
Later, we had drinks in the bar with Toshiharu and Takao. We had small squid to eat again. One was stuffed with peanuts: very delicious. Peanuts, soya beans, and buck-wheat all grow just across the road.
The evening meal was a delicious "sukiyaki" (literally, "liked, broiled.") cooked by Takao using the beef that had been given to Ritsuko.
During the night the arrival of a typoon (number 23; they have numbers, not names in Japan) was anxiously expected, but there were only about three strong gusts of wind before total atmospheric calm returned to Kanoya.

Tomorrow Family_Party