Sushi showers puzzle Japans weather-watchers
Updated
Meteorologists in Japan are puzzled by a recent series of downpours - it's not heavy rain falling from the sky, but fish and tadpoles.
Residents are reporting these unusual occurences from Hiroshima in the south to Iwate in the north.
Theories about how the fish and tadpoles are ending up in gardens and car-parks, range from tornadoes to birds.
Presenter: North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy
Speaker: Mamoro Akita, meteorologist, Tetsu Hayash, wildlife expert
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(Sounds of Japanese TV news...)
WILLACY: This country may be deep in recession and facing a crucial election, and just over the horizon North Korea may be threatening to fire a missile clear overhead, but fish and tadpoles raining from the heavens is headline news here in Japan…
It all started in Ishikawa prefecture on the country's west coast when residents began to notice strange creatures lying dead in their gardens, on roads, and in car-parks.
MAN: (translated) "I found a dozen small fish on the footpath near my house," says this man. "I have no idea how they got here. At first I thought it was some sort of prank," he says.
WOMAN: (translated) "I found these tadpoles," says this woman. "They must have rained down overnight. I'm astonished because tadpoles don't fly she says."
WILLACY: About 100 tadpoles were even found in the council car-park…some splattered across windscreens.
COUNCIL STAFF: (translated) "I found some on my car windscreen," says this council employee. "I'm surprised, I suppose they must have fallen from the sky," he says.
WILLACY: Soon reports began flooding in about similar fishy downpours from all the way Hiroshima in the south-west, to Iwate in the north-east.
One theory speculated that the creatures were sucked up by mini-tornados or waterspouts and then deposited in towns and villages.
But meteorologist Mamoro Akita quickly put paid to that hypothesis.
AKITA: (translated) "The weather radar hasn't picked up any rains or tornados in the affected areas," says Mr Akita. "So it's unlikely that tornados or waterspouts have been sucking up fish and tadpoles and raining them down" he says.
WILLACY: Whatever is causing this biblical type rain, it's powerful…one man reported finding more than a dozen small carp plastered on and around his truck.
Another theory suggests birds - big birds like herons or gulls - have been dropping the fish and tadpoles mid-flight.
HAYASHI: "It's possible these creatures were dropped by birds which scooped them up as prey," says wildlife expert Tetsu Hayash. "Maybe they dropped them when disturbed during flight."
WILLACY: Japan is in the middle of its annual rainy season, but this mystery of the fish and frogs falling from the sky is a long way from being solved.
