Japan's fishing school trips keep tradition alive

Japan's fishing school trips keep tradition alive
REUTERS

TOKYO, FEB 11: What, you might wonder, was asmall Japanese trawler packed with high school students doing chasing tuna off Hawaii ?

The answer, is that Ehime Maru, sunk by a surfacing U.S.Nuclear submarine on Friday, was helping to train a new generation of seafarers and maintain a centuries-old maritime tradition.

The trawler was rounding out the curriculum for just a fewof the thousands of teenagers who study at speciality fisheries high schools in Japan.

"Japan is an island country and we have a deep and longculture of fishing," Education Ministry spokesman Toshikuni Ochiai told Reuters by telephone.

Japan has 47 public and one private marine and fisherieshigh schools with more than 12,000 students enrolled.

One of the smallest is the Uwajima Marine and FisheriesHigh School, 13 of whose 200 students were aboard their Ehime Maru trawler when the USS Greeneville surfaced, struck it and sank it at 2345 GMT on Friday.

Four of the students, all 17 years old, two teachers andthree crew members were still missing on Sunday.

Long sea journeys are commonplace for these students, withover half Japan's schools sending their students on training voyages to Hawaii, which offers calm waters, top-notch medical facilities and a safe destination for teenagers making their first long voyage on the open seas.

The fisheries high schools have been an essential part ofthe Japanese education system for over 100 years. Japanese rely on fish as their main source of protein, as the greatest delicacy in their diet and are credited with inventing sushi -- a dish de rigeur in fashionable restaurants across the world.

HAWAII WAS SAFE

About 23 vessels from these schools are now sailing inwaters around Hawaii helping to educate the young people who will be the next generation of Japanese fishermen and ship captains.

"Fishing is a part of our lives and these schools play animportant role in preserving and advancing our maritime culture," said the Education Ministry's Ochiai.

Most of the graduates from fisheries schools end up inmarine-related industries. Some become fishermen, some join sea food product companies and others study marine biology.

Japan has thousands of fisheries cooperatives and thefishing sector employs about 400,000 people. Japanese fishing fleets span the globe and, for many on board those ships, their introduction to the sea starts with a training voyage.

The ill-fated 499-tonne Ehime Maru, hit by the 6,900-tonneGreeneville, had 13 second-year students and two teachers from the Uwajima school among the 35 people aboard.

Their school on the main southern island of Shikoku has along history of training voyages for Japan's next generation of fishermen.

The school was founded in 1945 and has sent hundreds ofstudents to Hawaii, a destination they considered safe. Its first training trips there started in the late 1950s.

"Nothing like this has ever happened before," saidVice-Principal Kazumistu Joko.

"We are all trying to keep a positive attitude and we wantto believe that all of those lost at sea are still safe," Joko said.

Most staff gathered at the school after news of theaccident to console relatives and make preparations for a trip to Hawaii.

It was a chaotic scene, school officials said. "We havenever lost one of our training ships before," one said.