Another documentary filmed and directed by Gavin Searle.
A glimpse into the surreal world of all things fish in Japan. In a six weeks tip around the country and its islands, presenter Charles Rangeley-Wilson with his guide Nobuaki Koide go in search of what the facination the Japanese have with fish. From Yellow fin tuna to giant Koi costing in the region of 100 000 yen each. Its a documentary aimed at looking at fish and the way the Japanese see fish and how their view differ from the western world. Its not a documentary about conservation but more one about consumption. The Japanese for example has no problem with eating fish that is still wriggling around on their plate, neither do they have a problem with eating whale meat.
Looking at it critically the documentary shies away from any of the sustainability issues but I guess this is a look into the fascination with fish not a documentary about the conservation of fish and within that lies the distinction. By sticking to a "theme" and a direction it allows it to explore ideas and helps the viewer to look at it open-mindedly. The viewer is not asked to take a side, but to purely indulge in the differences, its left up to the viewer to decide if they agree with those points of view, which I think is an interesting way of presenting. By doing it this way makes the documentary feel less forced into a point of view.
References
BBC,. Fish! A Japanese Obsession. 2014. Web. 7 Apr. 2016.