fisherman season”

Hello!
I’m Mountain Mouth Mercy!
From April to August,
when the feeling of summer begins to drift across the Seto Inland Sea,
our “fisherman season” begins.
The place is Agenosho, Suo-Oshima Town, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
In the quiet harbor in the morning,
a cool sea breeze still blows softly,
and the ocean breathes peacefully.
Fishing boats lined up by the port.
Green mountains.
The smell of salt in the air.
The voices of seagulls.
All of these are the original scenery of my life,
the landscape I have seen since childhood.
While continuing my music activities,
I also work as a fisherman together with my father.
Some days I travel around Japan singing songs and playing guitar.
But once I step onto the boat,
I become another version of myself.
Out on the Seto Inland Sea with my father,
I become a fisherman facing life itself.
The fishing style we use is called “Tateami,” or fixed net fishing.
We head toward places like
Heigun Island,
Suzumegahana,
and Tate Island.
The sea there is rich with life.
The fishing depth is around 42 to 52 meters.
The tide.
The wind direction.
The shape of the moon.
The water temperature.
The smell of the sea.
My father looks at all of these things carefully before deciding where to fish.
He has spent his entire life facing the ocean,
and I feel like he can sense things that even fish finders cannot detect.
A fisherman’s day begins before noon.
My father leaves the harbor alone first,
heading toward the fishing grounds to set the nets.
It takes about 30 minutes to one hour to reach the spot.
The boat moves quietly across the calm sea.
He watches the color of the water,
the movement of the tide,
and gently places the nets into the ocean.
The nets we use have red sections about 200 meters long on both ends,
and a silver net about 1000 meters long in the middle.
It stretches deep into the sea like a long road of life.
The red nets become markers,
while the silver net softly embraces the fish beneath the ocean.
By evening,
when the sky begins turning orange,
I finally join my father on the boat.
The moment we leave the harbor.
The sound of the engine.
The rocking boat.
The darkening sea.
I truly love this time.
As the city lights disappear behind us,
only the world of the sea remains.
Moonlight.
A distant lighthouse.
The sound of waves.
And the lights from our boat shining across the dark ocean.
Once we reach the fishing ground,
the real work begins.
My father carefully removes the fish caught in the nets one by one.
Meanwhile,
I operate the roller machine to pull up the nets.
Gogogogogo…
The sound of the roller echoes across the night sea.
Slowly, carefully,
we pull in more than 1000 meters of net.
This work takes between 90 and 120 minutes.
Sometimes nearly two hours out on the sea.
But to me,
those hours feel like treasure.
As the nets rise from the water,
many different fish appear.
Crimson sea bream.
Red snapper.
Flatfish.
Flounder.
Huge “Oguchi” flounders.
Stonefish.
Filefish.
Rabbitfish.
Asian sheepshead wrasse.
Spotted knifejaw.
Star sharks.
Squid.
Sometimes even stingrays.
The nets become a shining universe of life.
The fish glow silver under the lights,
struggling with all their strength.
My father especially targets flatfish, flounder, and stonefish.
After many years on the sea,
he can feel where the fish are.
He removes the fish carefully,
and I continue rolling in the nets.
Father and son working together under the night sky.
There are not many words between us.
But somehow,
it feels like we are having deep conversations without speaking.
When the fishing is finally over,
the night has grown very dark.
On the way back to the harbor,
I prepare the fish on the boat.
We clean the fish while they are still alive,
then freeze them immediately to preserve the highest freshness.
The dark sea.
The rocking boat.
The cold sea wind.
Hands covered in seawater and blood.
And yet,
I strangely love that moment.
Because it reminds me that I am facing life itself.
Back at the harbor,
we move the fish into the fishermen’s cooperative tanks.
Fish swimming in seawater.
The harbor lights reflecting on quiet waves.
Finally,
we tie the boat at the port.
But the work still isn’t over.
The next morning at 6 a.m.,
we return to the harbor again.
Until around 10 a.m.,
we repair and organize the nets.
Untangling them.
Fixing damaged sections.
Preparing for the next fishing trip.
Not only catching fish,
but also caring for the nets is an important part of being a fisherman.
Sometimes we listen to music together while working on the nets.
The sea breeze blows gently beside us.
Those quiet mornings with my father calm my heart.
Then before noon comes again,
my father heads back out to sea to set the nets once more.
This is our cycle.
Fishing from evening to night.
Moving fish into the tanks.
Repairing nets in the morning.
Setting the nets again before noon.
Living together with the sea.
We repeat this routine for about ten days each month.
Then during the powerful tides of the new moon and full moon,
when the currents become too strong,
we rest for about five days.
You cannot fight nature.
And my father taught me not to force things.
The sea never moves exactly the way humans want.
That is why it teaches gratitude.
During those breaks from fishing,
I travel for music activities.
I sing at schools, kindergartens, nursing homes, festivals, and events throughout Yamaguchi and beyond.
Everything I feel at sea becomes part of my songs.
The life of fish.
My father’s back.
The sunset over the Seto Inland Sea.
All of it becomes music.
The themes I sing about —
family, hometown, gratitude to our ancestors —
they all exist on this boat.
The memories of riding on my father’s fishing boat as a child.
The fear of rough waves.
The joy of a great catch.
The smell of fish and the scenery of the harbor.
Everything connects to who I am today.
To live both as a musician and as a fisherman with my father…
I truly feel blessed.
From Agenosho, Suo-Oshima Town, Yamaguchi Prefecture,
with gratitude for the blessings of the Seto Inland Sea,
today again, I head out to sea with my father.
Receiving life from the ocean,
and passing that life on to others.
That is the fisherman story of Mountain Mouth Mercy.
Gratitude, Thank You, A Chain of Happiness
Yamaguchi Furusato Ambassador
Mountain Mouth Mercy
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