Drink like a fish: Japanese carp exorcists battered by animal cruelty claims

A religious ceremony in Japan where carp are plied with alcohol before being returned to a river has left animal rights activists feeling green around the gills.

The rural festival, held every January in snow-swept Toyama prefecture, central Japan, sees revellers pouring rice wine into a fish’s mouth in a “Carp Releasing Exorcism” said to purge people of evil spirits. But the bizarre Shinto ritual has become entangled in controversy after featuring on national television earlier this week, with images of the flapping carp triggering an online backlash from upset viewers, many accusing organisers of animal cruelty.

Many of those who tweeted or posted to online chat rooms called for an end to the “abusive practice” and accused organisers of “intoxicating wildlife”.

During the ceremony, said to date back to the early 19th century, men and women hoping for a karmic boost are blessed by a priest.

The men then each hold a carp – a sacred fish in Japan – while a woman pours the purifying alcohol into the creature’s mouth before it is released back into the water.