While She Still Asks Me to Go Fishing

Yesterday, my eight-year-old niece, Chii-chan, came to visit.

Her father brought her over.

That day, I had originally planned to go to a farewell milonga for Diego and Aldana with some tango friends.

They are leaving for Shanghai and will then travel to Buenos Aires.

They will be away from Japan for about two months.

Since I would not see them for a while, I had planned to stop by and say goodbye.

But then I learned that Chii-chan was coming.

There was no decision to make.

Family came first.

I felt genuinely sorry to my friends, but I canceled the farewell milonga.

⸻

I did not know what time she would arrive.

My wife and I were watching videos at home when, at around four in the afternoon, we heard heavy footsteps approaching outside.

The moment she arrived, Chii-chan said,

“Let’s go to the fishing pond.”

It was four o’clock in the afternoon.

And it was nearly 35 degrees outside.

I have almost no interest in fishing.

I tried to steer her toward something else.

“How about tag?”

“Or hide-and-seek?”

I offered several alternatives.

But Chii-chan remained completely fixed on the fishing pond.

I checked, and it was open until six.

And so the five of us—my wife, my father-in-law, Chii-chan, her father, and I—went to a fishing pond nearby.

⸻

We arrived a little after four-thirty.

It was a pond for catching carp.

As soon as we arrived, my father-in-law began fishing by himself.

He sat some distance away from us and silently lowered his line into the water.

To anyone watching, he must have looked like an older man who had come alone because he loved fishing.

There was no sign that he was there with his family.

As always, he was the center of his own universe.

⸻

My wife had decided from the beginning that she would only watch.

I began fishing beside Chii-chan and her father.

The last time she came, Chii-chan had apparently caught eighteen fish.

She was very confident.

And indeed, almost as soon as she began, she caught several.

It was my first time there, so at first I had no idea what I was doing.

How to put the bait on the hook.

How to watch the bobber.

When to lift the rod.

As I experimented, I gradually began to understand.

Before long, I caught several fish in quick succession.

Chii-chan’s mood immediately began to worsen.

I was catching more than she was.

It was very easy to understand.

After catching about six fish, I decided to take a break.

After all, I am the adult.

⸻

Perhaps my father-in-law had grown tired of fishing alone, because at some point he came over to watch Chii-chan.

Her father put bait on her hook.

When she caught a fish, he removed it.

Then he released the fish back into the pond.

He had become the entire support team.

The more fish she caught, the more work he had to do.

Catch a fish and immediately release it.

Put on more bait.

Catch another fish.

Release it again.

When I thought about it, fishing began to seem like a rather strange pastime.

The more successful you are, the more trouble it creates.

It looked almost like a punishment game.

⸻

Even so, there were several serious anglers around us.

Alongside the carp pond was another pond for black bass.

Some people had brought their own rods and were dressed in full fishing gear.

There were even cars with Tokyo license plates in the parking lot.

Perhaps it is a surprisingly well-known place in Chiba.

The grounds had a rather untamed quality, and there did not appear to be much effort going into their upkeep.

Still, people kept coming.

Apparently, that was enough to keep the place going.

⸻

After fishing for about an hour and a half, we all went to Marugame Seimen.

Chii-chan had said she wanted udon.

When we returned home after dinner, she announced that she wanted to visit the neighborhood supermarket.

Her father took her, and they headed home from there.

She left with the same commotion with which she had arrived.

⸻

The sweat from the fishing pond still clung to my body.

I went alone to a nearby hot spring.

As I sat in the water, I thought back over the day, which had finally become quiet.

I had missed the farewell milonga.

I had not been particularly interested in fishing.

And I had never expected to spend the afternoon at a fishing pond in 35-degree heat.

But Chii-chan may only cling to me like this for another two or three years.

She will not be eight forever.

“Let’s go to the fishing pond.”

One day, she will stop asking me to go with her.

Until then, I think I will keep her company a little longer.