[Goldfish Spells] Vol.2: 'Goldfish Poop' as a Synonym for Inseparable Bonds

In modern times, the phrase "like a goldfish's poop" is sometimes used to slightly tease someone who follows another person closely.However, at the root of this phrase lies a surprisingly pure perspective of how closely and enthusiastically people in the Edo period observed living creatures called goldfish on a daily basis.

The Bond of "Once-in-a-Lifetime" Nurtured by Observation

Goldfish poop is very long compared to other fish, and it has the characteristic of swimming while dragging it without easily separating from the body.People who were looking into small bowls at the street corners of Edo did not just view this unique appearance as an interesting phenomenon.They superimposed on it a deep relationship that cannot be cut off, or a human relationship that is inseparable even for a moment.

In the Senryu and funny stories of that time, this appearance began to be used with plenty of humor as a word referring to a close relationship, such as "like a shadow accompanying a form". It was not just a cold ridicule, but a perspective containing the warm "funniness" typical of Edo people, accepting the habits of living things as they are as a sign of human lovable weakness and attachment.

Rich Time Flowing Behind Words

Behind the words we casually speak, there flows a rich time of people who once faced the small lives in the bowls carefully and felt the subtleties of life in every move they made.The observation eye of the people of that time who stared even at the whereabouts of a single poop and sublimated it into words.That may be connected to that loving gaze when we look at goldfish in modern times, changing its form.

Reinterpreting a casual scene of everyday life as a "bond" between someone and someone else. Such a gentle and sharp sensibility conveys this unusual word to the present.

Nobuyuki Yoshida "Goldfish Spring and Autumn Cultural History"(Nippon Animal Pharmaceutical, 2014): Transition of how goldfish habits were incorporated into Edo slang and Senryu.

Katsumi Suzuki "Goldfish and Japanese"(Kodansha Academic Paperback, 2019): Cultural history of words related to goldfish nurtured by the observation eye of common people.

"Edo Senryu Dictionary": Examples of metaphorical expressions in old Senryu with goldfish as the subject.