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How does a samurai kill a duck?

April 7th, 2008 by Joe Jones		 Joe

I’m sure you can visualize many possibilities in your head, but if you go to Hamarikyu Gardens in Tokyo you can get an idea of how the shôgun did it back in the day. The general process sounds like it belongs in an ethnic joke book:

  1. Build a pond and a creek.

  2. Raise ducks in the pond.

  3. Hide an iron door and a giant net in the bottom of the creek.

  4. Lure the domesticated ducks into the creek using the sound of wooden boards. (I don’t know why ducks like this sound, but maybe that’s why we eat them, and not the other way around.)

  5. Wait for wild ducks to follow the domestic ducks into the creek.

  6. Pull up the door, scaring the bejeezus out of the ducks.

  7. Pull up the net, catching the ducks.

  8. Laugh heartily and retreat for wild escapades with concubines.

If you don’t believe me, check out the posted explanation in Japanese and Engrish:

Bad-ass

This guy would not be amused.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Culture, Curiosities, History, Japan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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    • 4 Responses to 'How does a samurai kill a duck?'

    1. Aceface Says:
      April 7th, 2008 at 10:22 pm

      Imperial House Hold Agency still do this in 新浜鴨場Niihama-Duck Hunting Ground in Ichikawa,Chiba.Bringing member of imperial family and foreign diplomatic protocols in Tokyo.

      Hilarious thing is,it locates right next to Gyoutoku bird observatory!

      But then again,nowadays ducks shall be released as soon as being tagged in the leg for the fly-way survey by the researchers of Yamashina Ornithological Institute.(Founded by Marquis Yamashina,brother of Hirohito and Princess Norinomiya used to work there).
      http://images.google.co.jp/imgres?imgurl=http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/images/06/06ph-01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/05/d05-08-01.html&h=169&w=240&sz=21&hl=ja&start=23&um=1&tbnid=UQy4J8QPlmi6TM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%25E6%2596%25B0%25E6%25B5%259C%25E9%25B4%25A8%25E5%25A0%25B4%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dja%26lr%3D%26rlz%3D1T4GGLR_jaJP255JP256%26sa%3DN

    2. Aceface Says:
      April 7th, 2008 at 10:31 pm

      IHA also has same sort of hunting ground in Koshigaya,Saitama too.

      There is also an annual exhibition of falconer (Suwa Style,traditional falconer’s worked for IHA)at Hamarikyu,
      http://www.falconers-hermitage.com/

    3. Adamu Says:
      April 8th, 2008 at 8:51 am

      This post made me laugh out loud and embarrass myself at work, thank you.

      I can’t believe I missed the signpost when I visited there.

    4. ROK Drop Weekly Linklets - 20APR08 Says:
      April 19th, 2008 at 7:45 pm

      [...] Japan- If you can believe it 80% of the women who entered Japan between 1990-2000 on entertainment visas were prostitutes.  It makes you wonder what the yearly percentage for Korea is now?- A list of the Top 11 Anime characters that Japanese people wish they could be. – People whinging about the "preferable" treatment USFJ servicemembers receive in Japanese jails. – NPR has done a program comparing the health care systems in Japan and the US. Make sure to read the comments because the Japanese health care system appears to be not as good as NPR says it is. – How does a samurai kill a duck? This is how. [...]

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