Shonai Alts - Tom's world record!

The world's longest ever tuna and cucumber norimaki.

Friday 5th September was my school culture festival (bunkasai). After a morning of the usual singing and dancing, the school decided that we should

join together in setting a new record. What do you need to be a record breaker? Well, the theme tune to the old Record Breakers programme said that you need dedication to be the best, but it in this case the ingredients to success were approximately 950 sheets of seaweed, 120kg of cooked rice, 240 cucumbers and 15kg tuna and mayonnaise. That�s because my school decided to make Japan�s longest ever (and so I�m guessing the world�s) tuna and cucumber norimaki (rice rolled up in seaweed).

Preparation started at about eleven o�clock, when desks began to appear from the classrooms. Little by little they were lined up in a spiral around the gym. Then it was all covered in newspaper and flags were put up to show the length of the line. It went two and a half times around the gym. About this time a tv crew arrived to cover the momentous occasion for the local news. Everything was meticulously organised. The food arrived at the door and was placed in quite a large pile before being distributed to various points around the room. Then the main body of the students arrived.

It was at this point that I learnt that I was to be Yuka from 1-1 for the day, because she was absent. �But I�ve no idea how to roll norimaki�, I said to a teacher. �Is it difficult?�
�Yes, so be careful. You don�t want it to break at your point, do you?�
�Erm� no, not really.� Very reassuring that was. Thank you. If I took the piss out of you you�d be baffled. How can you do it to me? (I thought.)

Anyway, I took my place between Miriko and Sayaka and tried to elicit some instructions from them. After very little success, I settled for a 10 minute conversation about how hot and sticky the plastic gloves we�d been given made your hands feel. Then the table began to be covered with cling film, followed by the seaweed, rice, tuna and cucumber. After much rearrangement of the rice to spread it evenly, we finally got to roll it. The moment of truth. I was placed on a technically difficult bend in the table at the 140 metre mark, but it was crucial that I made no mistake. I didn�t want to let every down and spoil the record. Helped by the students either side of me, the first roll came off OK. I had to squash it down because it was a bit fat compared to the tightly rolled norimaki either side of me. Then the second roll. Wahey!!! Finished� but not yet. Finally we had to take it out of the cling film and lift it for 5 seconds without it breaking. Much cheering followed. High 5s all round. The final length was 152 metres. At last we could eat it. I was starving because I�d slept in and missed breakfast, so I ate a full 50 cm. Yumyum.

By Tom Telford