KUMAMOTO — A 10-year-old fifth grader at an elementary school in this southwest Japan city became the youngest person in Japan to pass the authorization test to prepare fugu, or deadly poisonous pufferfish.
Karin Tabira, a student at the municipal Kawashiri Elementary School in Kumamoto’s Minami Ward, paid a courtesy visit to Kumamoto Gov. Takashi Kimura on Aug. 22 to report her achievement.
Karin took the fiscal 2024 fugu cooking license exam which was held in Yamaguchi Prefecture this June and July. With the support of Fukunari, a wholesale company in the city of Kumamoto engaged in the cultivation and sale of the poisonous blowfish, she spent about six months training for the exam. She passed both the academic test on food sanitation and the practical test on filleting and identifying the parts of a fugu.
Until now, the youngest person to be certified was 11. The exam’s pass rate is 64.5%.
Karin visited the Kumamoto Prefectural Government offices on Aug. 22 and served Gov. Kimura sashimi she had prepared the previous day. Kimura, after tasting the dish, offered her words of encouragement, saying, “It’s thin, clear and very tasty. I’m impressed by your willingness to take on the challenge at the age of 10.”
Karin replied, “I’m glad to hear that it tasted good. It was difficult to cut and wash the skin during the exam.”
The fugu cooking license exam is held in every prefecture. In Kumamoto Prefecture, only those aged 18 or older can apply for the authorization required to actually prepare fugu, so Karin apparently took the exam in Yamaguchi Prefecture, where there is no age limit. She said, “I want to get the license when I turn 18 so I can prepare fugu in Kumamoto Prefecture.”
(Japanese original by Keiko Yamaguchi, Kumamoto Bureau)
