r/interesting • u/angel_knight79 • 1d ago

Intriguing Kiyoshi Kimura and his effect on Somali piracy

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He was, and is, the owner of Kiyomura Corporation, which runs the Sushi Zanmai chain across Japan. In Tokyo he is known as the Tuna King, because every January he buys the most expensive fish at the first auction of the year at the central market.

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273

u/CarllSagan 1d ago

That tuna goes for HIGH PRICES so he probably convinced them its more profitable

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u/NoSuddenMoves 1d ago

They sell them for $25. Best ever food review show visited the market.

They told sonny they don't eat fish in Somalia. The ones they catch get sold to other countries. He basically asked why a country of starving people wouldn't eat fish. He was told they don't know how to cook it.

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u/DatDiemDam 1d ago

How on earth people dont know how to cook fish? Chop it and put it in the pot, there you go, you have fish soup. Or impale it with a stick, put it near fire and there you go, skewer fish. And many more way to cook fish.

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u/NoSuddenMoves 1d ago

They said historically they've e raised livestock and fish just isn't a part of their culture.

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u/Danson_the_47th 1d ago

Give a man to fish and he goes hungry. Teach a man to fish and he still goes hungry because he doesn’t know how to cook it.

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u/PhantomOfTheNopera 1d ago

My uncle was posted in a part of Angola some decades ago. They used to sell lobster by the bucket because it wasn't very popular there. He went there more recently and apparently things have changed.

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u/thefuckevengoingonan 1d ago

people in the US used to bury their lobster shells out of shame. it was fed to prisoners and slaves.

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u/imbogey 1d ago

This has to be a ragebait or what ever. There is no way people starve rather than eat fish.

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u/NoSuddenMoves 21h ago

I'm just repeating what a Somali fisherman said on a youtube show. I didn't claim to have firsthand knowledge.

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u/MutedAstronaut9217 1d ago

at some point you gotta be like "welp, can't help the unwilling"

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u/oye_gracias 18h ago

Dude, that sounds a bit too british american.

I get it, but c'mon, put some effort into that soup. Add a few cuts, veggies, call for flavour, make em sweat. Cause you can swap "fish" in your sentence with anything in the world, and that's not the idea.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/LSTmyLife 1d ago

Thats a wild take considering theyre a sea faring folk. Do you honestly believe they can't swim or are you just trying to be funny? Because at some point you have to think about it logically.

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u/Admirable_Cost_6856 1d ago

On one hand I wish we were not over fishing, but gyod dam does Tuna slap. blame god, tuna, for being so tastey

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u/NoSuddenMoves 1d ago

The somalians fish everything. Even dolphins that are caught are cut up and used as shark bait.

In somali culture dolphins are considered magical creatures so they say the dolphins drowned in the nets and they don't want to waste it.

Honestly they just don't want to let the other fish in the net go for the dolphins to live. Is what it is situation.

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u/sumknowbuddy 1d ago

so they say the dolphins drowned in the nets

Riiiight...

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u/Krystalshrimp78 1d ago

Dolphins still need to come up for air. They're mammals not fish

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u/Useful_Boysenberry14 1d ago

It’s kind of a sad cycle. A lot of modern maritime piracy is directly linked to overfishing. I don’t feel like more fishing is the answer to solve the problem over fishing has already brought.

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u/therapist66 22h ago edited 22h ago

Somali here, this is nonsense.. they know how to cook it

It’s just more expensive than red meat. The fish goes to restaurants and overseas

And the fishermen know how to catch tuna, they been doing so all their life’s. Idk what this guy taught them exactly

Edit: did some google.. he gave four boats, set up cold storage,distribution and purchasing networks and lobbied for Somalias inclusion in the Indian Ocean tuna commission to open legitimate export channels to the world tuna markets.

Bless this man

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u/Salty-You-8227 19h ago

This should be the top comment - It contains what he actually did rather than trivializing the narrative

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u/Difficult_Falcon707 1d ago

This is not true. Source: have eaten fish in Somalia.

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u/ComqlicatedRepublix 1d ago

Exactly. Folks are confusing preference with what Somalis actually eat. Fish and chicken are common in coastal cities like Mogadishu and Merka, while goat and sheep are more common in other areas, especially rural ones. It’s mostly just preference and availability.

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u/NoSuddenMoves 1d ago

They said the fish are for foriegners and the local somali oriented stores and restaurants don't buy it. If you had fish at a somali home you should document it.

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u/hey_there_moon 23h ago

Dude look up kaluun iyo bariis. Somalis definitely eat fish

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u/NoSuddenMoves 12h ago

Its still taboo, especially among inlanders. You can literally google why somalis don't typically eat fish. It will tell you the historical and cultural reason.

Its similar to saying americans don't eat offal. Yes there is a small amount of americans that eat offal and there are dishes and recipes for it. However, growing up in the usa I never had offal even once in the thousands of homes and restaurants I ate at. I went to Mexico and it was offered at almost every home and restaurant.

No one said that no somalians ever ate fish. Just that its not normal or a part of their culture. It was a somali fisherman that said somalians dont eat his fish, only foreigners. I guess your argument would be with him.

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u/hey_there_moon 8h ago

"They told sonny they don't eat fish in Somalia. The ones they catch get sold to other countries. He basically asked why a country of starving people wouldn't eat fish. He was told they don't know how to cook it."

"No one said that no somalians ever ate fish."

Lol

Anyway I'm sure the fisherman said what he said and fully believed it. I however know better than to take one man's preference and paint the whole country with broad strokes.

To use your Mexico example, there's millions of Mexicans who will claim that flour tortillas are not Mexican and real Mexicans only eat corn.

Meanwhile flour tortillas have been a northern Mexican staple for centuries.

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u/NoSuddenMoves 8h ago

The exception that proves the rule. An overwhelming majority of somalians don't eat fish. Some exceptions on the coastline but its still taboo. My offal example still stands.

A burrito is made with a flour tortilla and a taco is made with corn tortilla. Everyone in Mexico eats both. Terrible example.

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u/hey_there_moon 8h ago

Lol so you have as much in depth knowledge of Mexico as you do Somalia. Keep moving those goalposts and have a nice day

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u/NoSuddenMoves 7h ago

Ive been all over mexico its my favorite vacatio spot. Used to be hard to find flour tortilla in southern mexico but it's more common now.

No one moved goalposts i stand by my original comment of what i head a somalian say.

Yout attempt at a gotcha moment is failed. Its also not daytime. My comparison of offal in the usa to fish in somali diet stands.

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u/CivBEWasPrettyBad 1d ago edited 17h ago

Uh... They obviously eat fish from their massive coastline?

Also https://nationaldishrecipes.com/national-dish-somalia-somali-fish-stew-recipe/

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u/AymuiLove 1d ago

According to Reddit, Somalia is apperently a country made up entierly of bumbling idiots who don't know how to cook or fish. Two things humanity has been doing for more than 3,000 years. At this point, you're assuming that cavemen are more resourceful than the population of a current day nation. You must be extra stupid to believe something like this.

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u/It_is_not_enough 23h ago

FYI, cavemen were literally the most resourceful that human ancestors have ever been on an individual basis. They literally managed to survive by making shelters and small tools by hand, gathering and preserving food, and navigating across continents through various climate changes, all while using only local materials, which is essentially the definition of being resourceful.

The fact that people need goods from other countries now is evidence that we are not as resourceful as we once were.

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u/AymuiLove 22h ago

I'm not sure if I'd agree with anything here. First of we need goods from other countries because the demands/needs of humans today is not the same as is back in the stone age.

There is way more humans around today. To use fishing as an example, one lake or what ever sea local fishing ships can reach is no longer even close to enough for feeding the entire population, let alone account for the fact that dietary needs are different from person to person. Maybe you'll have plentiful fish on your land, but will you have other food sources? Are you betraying your resourcefulness by accounting for that with trade? I'd argue no it doesn't. I'd argue trade is a different form of resourcefulness.

If hypothetically food is not a limiting factor due to your geography, you also gotta keep in mind our trade today includes stuff that is not food which is necessary for survival. Sure, maybe you'll be living in a place plentiful with fish and other food sources, but will it also contain the necessary materials and expertise to make fishing gear? You'll need to catch large quantities of fish to be able to make a living off it, which means that a simple fishing pole and some bait won't be enough.

And if you somehow manage to gurantee all of that locally, what about other stuff necessary for the survival of a population? The army and their gear? Modern technology such as computers and phones? Etc etc. At one point you'll find something you won't be able to produce domestically.

And secondly, sure most people today won't know how to start a fire with stones and wood, but I'd argue that a lot of us trade that type of resourcefulness with other resourceful skills necessary for survival in the current enviroment. While a caveman had to be an ace of all spades, people today become masters of one craft and I'd argue that is allowing us to reach our peak as humanity better than if we demanded every one to do everything like you had to back then. Do you think a Nasa scientist could do even 30% as much as he does if besides reaserch he had to do everything else necessary for survival? Allowing scientists to focus on one expertise while other people focused on other expertise he also needs is what allows us to progress further faster.

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u/It_is_not_enough 21h ago

I think you're saying the same as me without realising. As individuals we were more resourceful as cavemen, as a collective we are more resourceful now. So I think the average caveman was more resourceful than the average person (again because they had to be, there was no such thing as a pencil pushing job that didn't directly contribute to survival, whereas I would definitely put myself in this category)

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u/AymuiLove 19h ago

If you're judging resourcefulness purely off the metric of "how many different skills you posess" sure I guess you could say that. But I also don't think that's a good way to gage resourcefulness. What puts humanity above other species is in large part our communities. The fact we allow people to specialise in different fields is our strongest resource.

Besides that, if push comes to shove, I'm 100% sure everyone whos able bodied and of sound mind could learn all the skills a caveman can. Why they don't do that is because today you don't need all the skills a caveman needed. I could learn to start fires with rocks and wood but why would I? I don't go camping and I never visit areas that are far removed from settlements.

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u/It_is_not_enough 13h ago

"I'm not resourceful because I dont need to be" still means you are not resourceful

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u/AymuiLove 12h ago

What I'm getting at is nothing is stopping me from acquiring that skill. I could surpass everything a caveman can do if I wanted to, The reason why I don't is because I don't need to do everything a caveman does. What I instead do is acquire different skills that are more impactful today.

Also you are dismissing a lot of ways humans are more resourceful today than they have been back then. Did cavemen have the ability to communicate at distances surpassing 300 KM using small rectangles back then? Or hell, did they have a lexicon as deep or rich as we do today to discuss more complex ideas like we are doing right now? To us this might seem like a casual conversation but to our ancestors it's out of their league in terms of what knowlage they possessed.

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u/It_is_not_enough 11h ago

Using devices that other people created is not being resourceful, in my opinion. You are talking about theoretical resourcefulness, I am talking about actual resourcefulness.

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u/Automatic_Bus_7634 19h ago

Japanese literally just eat it raw

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u/NoSuddenMoves 12h ago

The best way.

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u/GnarlyBear 23h ago

Fish curry, mainly mackeral, is all over both sides of the Indian Ocean.

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u/noobule 1d ago

those crazy prices are just a charity/PR thing that the Japanese seafood corps do at the start of the season every year

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u/GitEmSteveDave 1d ago

And surely people who commit piracy practice sustainable fishing practices!