Well, you have pets and animal friends, such as dogs and cats, and some unusual ones, like lizards and snakes, but fish? Now, this is a new one!
Hiroyuki Arakawa, a local diver residing in Tateyama in Chiba prefecture, runs a dive shop near Hasama Underwater Park. He also serves as a caretaker for an undersea Shinto shrine for the past 25 years.
Image Via: Inhabitat
A Shinto shrine is a structure that houses one or several Shinto kami. Shinto, the ethnic religion of Japan, ensures that ritual practices of kami, the worship of the spirits, are practiced meticulously. This religion acts to bridge the chasm between the ancient and modern Japan. An underwater Shinto shrine is a novelty even by Japanese standards.
Amazingly, in the course of his innumerable dives to the shrine, he has struck an uncanny friendship with a fish that he has fondly named Yoriko. This Asian sheepshead wrasse recognizes Arakawa’s calls and responds to them admirably.
