[TinyRedLeaf]

Why do Japanese politicians wave fish?

Tokyo (Dec 18, Tue): No, we're not talking about trout slapping.

One of the victorious candidates in Japan's general election on Sunday appeared in front of cheering supporters holding a large fish. Why?

The politician was Mr Shinjiro Koizumi, son of the retired former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who was re-elected to represent his father's former constituency for the conservative Liberal Democratic Party.

The fish was a tai, usually translated into English as "sea bream", or "red sea bream", or sometimes just as "snapper".

The fish is not a prop used by politicians alone. In fact, it is more commonly seen held aloft by winning sumo wrestlers — or on dinner plates to celebrate a happy occasion. One reason given for this in Japan is the similarity between the word "tai", and the word for "joyous", "auspicious" or "deserving celebration": omedetai.

However, Professor Ian Neary, of Oxford University, says it is actually "slightly unusual" for a politician to brandish a fish when celebrating victory. "It's what sumo wrestlers do," he says. "The bigger the fish the better. It shows how tough they are."

When politicians do it, "it's mainly about mimicking what sumo wrestlers are seen to do after they win a tournament".

The wrestler holds the fish with one beefy hand. The politician may need two.

The Japanese love of the tai, however, is not explained by its name alone. It is also one of the best-tasting fish. Professor Tomoya Akimichi, a maritime anthropologist at Japan's Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, says it has long been considered the "king of fish" in Japan, eaten for at least 5,000 years, and once presented as an annual offering to the emperor.

BBC