YAMATO KORIYAMA, Nara Pref. -- Similar to the high school baseball championships at Koshien, it is a national championship with 2,000 participants striving to be Japan's No. 1. It could even be compared to the Olympic Games, where contestants have to go through a qualifying round before they reach the main arena.
While the sixth national goldfish-scooping championship, being held today in a gymnasium in Yamato Koriyama City Park, is neither of these, it is perhaps no less important to the participants.
The number of entrants has consistently increased since the first tournament in 1995, with 4,633 people throughout the country applying to take part in this year's event. Either through 10 local qualifying rounds or through a draw, 2,000 have found their way into today's competition.