What is Goldfish Scooping?

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Goldfish scooping (金魚すくい, 金魚掬い ,Kingyo-sukui^?) is a Japanese traditional game in which a player scoops goldfish with a special scooper. It is also called, "Scooping Goldfish", "Dipping for Goldfish" or "Snatching Goldfish". "Kingyo" means goldfish and "sukui" means scooping. Sometimes bouncy balls are substituted for goldfish. Japanese summer festivals or ennichi commonly have a stall. Both children and adults enjoy the game. The game is played for pleasure, but today, there is a National Competition of Goldfish Scooping in Japan.

Each person plays individually. The basic rule is that the player scoops goldfish from a pool with a scooper called "poi" and brings them to a bowl with it. This game requires carefulness and quickness as the poi can be easily torn. The game is over when the poi is completely broken. Even if one part of the poi is torn, the player can continue the game with the remaining part.

At ennichi or summer festival stalls, the game is not a competition. Participation typically costs around 100yen and players can take scooped goldfish home with a special bag. The game is unlimited, so players can scoop until their pois are completely broken. If they cannot scoop even one goldfish, the shopkeeper of the stall may kindly give them two or so. Each stall usually has its own rule. For example, there are some stalls where players can get a stronger poi if they pay more. Other stalls give players special presents if they scoop a lot.

At National Championship of Scooping Goldfish, players follow the official rules that are different from above (see National Championship of Scooping Goldfish).

The things necessary to play goldfish scooping is a pool which goldfish swim in, a poi, a bowl to keep scooped goldfish, a special bag with which to bring goldfish home, and goldfish themselves.

• Pool
  

Usually, the goldfish are placed in a small plastic pool about 1m² and 20cm depth.

• Poi (ポイ ,poi^?)
  

Poi consists of a round plastic frame and handgrip, and paper on the frame. Poi’s paper can easily break when it is put into water, so players should not move Poi fast. There are some classes inp Poi's paper; No.5 (5号 ^?) is weaker, and No.7 (7号 ^?) is stronger. In some stalls, staffs have unbreakable Poi which consist of net instead of paper to scoop goldfish.

There are some basic technique for goldfish scooping.

• Do not chase a goldfish with the poi.
  

It may be obvious that the paper will easily break if the player moves the poi violently in the water.

• Put the whole poi into the water softly and slantingly.
  

Some people put only a part of it into the water, but it is not right to do. If a player does it, there will be a wet part and the other part on the paper. The boundary of them makes the paper easy to break. Also, water pressure will be greater if the player put the poi into the water with it parallel with the water.

• Considering these technique, players should aim at a goldfish which is near the wall and near the surface.
  

It is easier to predict the movements of a goldfish near the wall. Moreover, a goldfish has less way to escape from the poi. After a player see these technique, what the player has to do is practice. However, there is advanced technique for people who are familiar with goldfish scooping.

• Make a fixed shadow of yourself in the water.
  

In general, goldfish have tendency to escape from a temporary shadow. On the other hand, they flock around a steady shadow. To take advantage of this habit of goldfish, players should be still when scooping them.

This game started in the late Edo period, around 1810s. In those days, pois were made of nets, and it was one of the children's plays. Pois came to be made of paper and stalls started it in Taishō period, around 1910s. The game became more and more popular, and National Championship of Scooping Goldfish began in 1995. Today, it is so popular that people will surely see the stall at ennichi or summer festivals in Japan. On the other hand, it becomes a serious problem that scooped goldfish are not properly bred in players' home.