JapanNewbie

Catching Loaches どじょうすくい

Posted on 14. Dec, 2008 @ 2:52 pm by harvey in Culture, Language, Media, Music, Society Views: 1,409

This dojyousukui (どじょうすくい), literally “loach scooping”, is a traditional Japanese folk dance about catching loaches (どじょう). Loaches are a small tadpole looking fish creature that is frankly pretty gross to look at… but edible when fried. I have eaten them in Nagoya!

The type of music that this dance is done to is called yasugibushi (安来節).

The lyrics in the song, and my translation are…

おやじどこへ行く腰(こし)に籠(かご)下(さ)げて
前(まえ)の小川(こがわ)へどじょう取(と)りに

Hey man where are you going with that basket hanging from your waist
Going to the small river up there to catch loaches

わしが生まれは浜佐陀(はまさだ)生(う)まれ
朝(あさ)まとうからどじょやどじょ

I was born in Hamasada
First thing in the morning, loaches it is, loaches

唄(うた)に千両(せんりょう)の値ぶみがあれば
どじょうは万両(まんりょう)の味(あじ)がある

If a song is worth 1000 silvers
Then a loach has a flavor worth 10,000 silvers

(The Japanese in this song is so old that even my wife wasn’t familiar with some of the phrases, so if anyone notices any translation mistake do let me know!)

Notice how he uses his finger to act as if he’s trying to grab hold of a loach. Great!

This dojyousukui is actually a huge part of Japanese culture. There is hardly a Japanese person who has not heard of this activity and dance. It’s sort of a custom for drunken salarymen to demand that someone at their table do the dance during their night out drinking at a local izakaya. I have never actually been to a drinking event where this happened, but maybe the crowd I was hanging with was just too young.

This video shows something… similar… but the unfortunately the dojyoutsukui dancer is not a drunken salaryman, but just a hapless kid instead.

Poor kid.

This last video shows a kid at some sort of children’ical
s event, actually catching dojyou out of a pool. You can see what the critters look like in this video.

You might ask… What do they do with them after they catch them?

Fry them up and eat them with beer, that’s what!

Memorize the dance. Put a video on youtube of yourself doing it. Thanks.

- Harvey

UPDATE:

Reader Yvette sent in this great example of the loach scooping dance in Japanese culture! Check the video at 2:50. The scene is some super elegant girls school, where some sort of talent show begins. When one of the girls is doing dojyoutsukui at first the girls are surprised she would be so into doing such a low-class dance, but at the end they all enjoy it along with her.

Great find!