Fish Trap

Gari is an item of fishing equipment to trap and catch fish, and was made using bamboo strips woven in a circle. The body is tied with strings at three or four locations, and the upper mouth is wrapped in straw for easy grip. In spring, when an embankment is drained for planting rice in a paddy and the water level is up to knee-level, several people would enter the water and stomp their feet to muddy the water, depriving oxygen from the water and causing fish to rise up for air. Then the fish trap would be placed into the water to trap the fish, and picked up by hand. In addition, when rice paddies are flooded in the summer, carps and catfish enter the paddies with the inflow of water. After the paddies are drained of the excess water, people would go into the paddies and catch fish with the trap.