Photo/Illutration Operators of Shokudokoro Sakamoto Ayu Yana restaurant in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, show the signboard that was lost in the July flood but retrieved a month and a half later. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The Kumagawa river that flows through southern Kumamoto Prefecture is a well-known habitat of "ayu" (sweetfish).

Growing in the rapids, the fish are muscular, and it is not rare for some to grow longer than 30 centimeters.

But this year, ayu fishermen are utterly out of luck. Practically the entire ayu population was lost in the torrential rains of July.

"Even if some are caught in my net, there are no more than just a few, and they're all small," lamented Masataka Morishita, 79, of the town of Sakamoto in Yatsushiro. "The algae and moss they feed on have been ruined, so there's really nothing to sustain the remaining fish."

Three years ago, Morishita opened an ayu restaurant in the hope of revitalizing his rapidly aging town. Named Shokudokoro Sakamoto Ayu Yana, the establishment is open only in summer and autumn, and local residents take turns running it.

With busloads of tourists from outside Kumamoto Prefecture coming to dine, the restaurant made a much-awaited profit for the first time last season.

But this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has kept the place shuttered, and then the rains in July caused a flood that washed the restaurant's tables away.

There was, however, just one item that was later recovered--a cedar wood signboard with the restaurant's name written in big letters.

Carried by the river out to the Yatsushirokai Sea, the board eventually washed ashore on an island in Amakusa 20 kilometers away, and was found by an islander collecting driftwood.

The signboard was practically undamaged when it was returned to the restaurant the following month.

"I was feeling pretty down from the corona-flood double whammy, but this signboard made me want to try again," Morishita recalled.

Strolling along the river basin, I saw stark reminders of the flood. The sounds of power shovels were loud on the river bank, and homes missing walls and floors stood forlornly here and there.

And there were signs of discord between locals who are in favor of dam construction and those who are against. I wished there could be some definitive flood control method that could protect lives as well as clean streams.

On the day I visited the town, late autumn sunlight danced on the river's surface.

The "miracle signboard" was about half the size of a standard "tatami" mat, and the handwriting in black ink was intact. Hefting it with both hands, I felt its weight. Now placed in a corner of the restaurant, it awaits the day patrons will return to savor ayu dishes again.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 25

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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