3 in serious condition, 4 others ill after eating globefish

Wednesday 28th January, 04:08 AM JST

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ca1ic0cat at 03:23 AM JST - 28th January

Of all the things there are to eat in Japan fugu is the one I've avoided. It's one part of the wa that I can't comprehend.
openyoureyes at 04:51 AM JST - 28th January

You sleep in a house built by a stranger, you catch a train driven by a stranger, you ride on a plane being flown by a stranger, you eat food prepared by a stranger. You either have to be a "dummy" who trusts strangers to do their job, or be paranoid and live in a cave.

...but...but...those other things are safe because I do them! ;)

Fugu should be banned.

People should be allowed to make their own decisions whether to partake in an activity that has dangerous elements. The government is not your babysitter.
silverwind20 at 05:59 AM JST - 28th January

The people knew what risk they were taking, admittedly I'm sure they didn't know the guy didn't have a license and if they did they'd think twice but. . .

Frankly I think the appeal to to eating Fugu is the same as riding a roller coaster, watching a scary movie, sky diving, mountain climbing, etc, etc, etc, that thrill of doing something you know can kill you, so at odds with the normal hum drum lifestyle plus you don't even have to be remotely healthy to do it, so it's obvious how it appeals to the general Japanese office worker.

Plus Fugu is one of those things decidedly Japanese, there's no way they'll get rid of it, it's traditional.
mongolia at 08:40 AM JST - 28th January

Srtange. Maybe,It was a kind of accident. An accident can happen any time with any of us. If people like eating fugu that's all. We can not judge them.
Disillusioned at 08:59 AM JST - 28th January

professional negligence resulting in injury

Wow! I never realised this was an offense in Japan.
saborichan at 09:18 AM JST - 28th January

I did enjoy Fugu nabe at a restaurant, once. The fish seemed, er, thicker and fleshier than other fish. It was delicious. But that doesn't make it less alarming when a chef claims he didn't know there was poison involved.
neverknow2 at 10:10 AM JST - 28th January

Not sure what's happened at Japan Today, there must be a few work experience staff. 'Fugu' usually refers to pufferfish, sometimes known as blowfish. 'Globefish' refers to a type of type which can inflate itself into a shape similar to a globe. That would be be sunfish or pufferfish.

My guess is that the person who wrote this article, has a very close relationship with a Japanese/English dictionary.
Disillusioned at 10:25 AM JST - 28th January

They are called toads where I come from and you would have to be nuts to eat something you know is poisonous. Then, these gamblers get sick and seek compensation? What do they expect? - It is not food!
bobbafett at 03:24 PM JST - 28th January

I ate some fugu liver prepared by a guy with no license at a sushi bar in Nara on a drunken bet. It cost the Oyaji who was goading me 20,000 Yen just for that bite sized morsel. It cost him a further 20,000 Yen to pick up my tab that night. I didn't get sick or was too drunk to notice. Now when I go there no one goads me into doing anything anymore. Especially not those stupid arm wrestles they always try on.
Latenights at 06:03 PM JST - 28th January

So is any training involved in obtaining a license? If he had gone to the trouble (and expense, presumably) would anyone have told him that there was poison in the testes? Just wondering...
PepinGalarga at 11:20 PM JST - 28th January

guys and gals, this is the deal: there are many species of fugu, and each one has different body parts that are poisonous. if you cannot tell which species you are dealing with, you might as well play russian rulette with a .357.

the other day i was in a new years party and a buddy of mine carved up a fugu that he caught himself. He could talk the talk, hehe, so i made sure he ate it first and then 15 minutes later then i ate it, but still, it takes some balls to do that!
Sammi33 at 11:38 PM JST - 28th January

Latenights: my husband has a fugu license. It takes a lot of training and dedication, and money, especially for the Tokyo one. He did a lot of self-study, because there is a written test on things such as remembering the names and characteristics of different species and varieties of fugu, and then there is the practice part, he needed to buy a separate cutting board and knife, and go to the Tsukiji about once a week to get practice fish. Then there were practice sessions overseen by a professional. The passing rate is under 50% for the Tokyo test that he took.
PepinGalarga at 02:40 PM JST - 29th January

Sammi33: the 50% who fail, live to take the test again? haha
OssanAmerica at 04:59 AM JST - 30th January

'Fugu' usually refers to pufferfish, sometimes known as >blowfish. 'Globefish' refers to a type of type which can inflate itself >into a shape similar to a globe. That would be be sunfish or pufferfish.

Here in the U.S. Fugu is translated as Puffer, Pufferfish or Blowfish and the tailmeat of a small species sometimes found in US fish markets is called "sea squab". Globefish is a term not used here but understood to mean a blowfish/pufferfish. Sunfish is the Ocean Sunfish aka Mola Mola which is something else entirely, as are the freshwater bream like Bluegills and such.
the_sicilian at 01:48 PM JST - 2nd February

I just want to know who were the dudes that first caught the fish, ate it, then died. Then I want to know who saw this and said, "there has to be a way to eat this fish".

Umm, kind of like white people in horror movies. They are the ones that go into the bad place even though they are warned, "get out...", just run. It's the same with the fish, If you saw your friend die from eating a certain type of fish, run. Don't eat, run.

Ciao