“Kumode” nets, or “spider nets,” are tools used for scooping out fish in the Ariake Sea.

In the old days, children would head to the river to catch the side dish for the day’s meals. Eel was one such delicacy. They would lower a line from a bamboo pole baited with a loach caught from the rice fields on a hook. They would set the traps at night, then check back at the river early in the morning, hoping for a nice catch of eels. However, if they overslept, they would go to school unable to check the traps, worried that others might have snatched their catch. Sometimes, upon checking the nets after school, they might not find eels but a soft-shelled turtle instead. A lucky catch, given that fishmongers bought them for three times the price of eel. Pond snails caught by the bucketload also fetched a nice allowance at the market. Gripping their small fortunes in hand, the kids would rush to the general store on their way back home and have a little splurge.

People also went fishing on “donko-bune” or “goby boats” like the ones used for the Canal Cruise. “Donko” refers to the yellowfin goby, a fish that lived in the canal. Yanagawa used to be an abundant biotope for fish.