September
04
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I Saw Another New Wild Animal In Tokyo!
There I was, drinking in the serene green at the Kiyosumi Garden…
(Where, I might add, the herons on the far island were prancing around doing the “my genes are better than yours” dance)
…when I nearly stepped on this.
It’s a Northern Chinese Softshell turtle, and if Wikipedia is right, this one is setting the standard for maximum bigness
It’s (weirdly) classified as “invasive” (because China) and “threatened.” Which shouldn’t surprised me, after hearing what Japanese visitors talk about at the aquarium. In these here parts, this unlikely snack is better known as suppon.
Seriously, does this face look even remotely edible to you?
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When not being squicked out by the idea of eating a heckin’ huge, beady-eyed turtle, Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo
For nine years, Tokyo Detective Kenji Nakamura thought his mother’s death was an accident. Then he gets a call, and his life begins to unravel…Read more
It doesn’t look tasty at all but it does look cute. It makes me sad they would attempt to eat this thing. It’s beautiful and no doubt it took ages to get to this size. What is wrong with people! 😦
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Definitely wouldn’t eat that!
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The ‘funny’ thing is suppon is served in kaiseki restaurants and it’s delicious!
Great post. Great pics.
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