“So soon we get old.  So late we get smart.” — Anonymous             

The word gyotaku is Japanese, and means, literally, fish print.

In the mid-1800s, Japanese fishermen came up with the process to document prize catches.  A brag-worthy fish would be laid on one side, the top was inked, and then rice paper would be pressed onto the fish.  The paper would be gently removed, and the resulting print would show the size and type of fish caught.

This process came to be before photography, and was used as a way to document notable catches.
The process, called gyotaku, resulted in the production of some beautiful prints.  Gyotaku has become rather more refined over the last 170 years or so, but the fundamental process is unchanged.  The traditional gyotaku is the pressing of rice paper on an inked fish.

Even the most traditional gyotaku artists will often draw an eye onto the print.  Eyeballs do not take the ink well.  For that reason a naked print has a small area void of any design.  Hand drawing of an eye produces what most consider a more realistic and aesthetic result.

Other artists begin with the traditional print, and add color to achieve a result to resemble the natural colors of the fish.  Gold hues, and blue, might be added to dorado/mahi mahi.  The work is often signed, and traditionally, a stamp identifying the producer, called  chop, is applied with red ink.

A short piece in New Yorker made mention of the craft, and cited the name. This allowed me to do an internet search for gyotaku.  A man named Naoki, lives in Kaneohe, Hawaii, where he makes beautiful gyotaku prints.  Kaneohe happens to be home to what is now Marine Base Hawaii, formerly Marine Corps AS Kaneohe Bay, where I was stationed prior to deployment to Vietnam. 

The ink choice may well be squid ink, available in most art supply stores, as is rice paper, the preferred choice of paper.  Squid ink is water soluble, which allow for some dilution and manipulation of the print.  The solubility also allows for the ink to be washed off the fish with a garden hose, rendering the fish edible.

Other inks might be problematic in that regard.  Naoki has a video on YouTube which shows him catching a 50-pound tuna (ono), inking it, printing it, washing it, eating  and serving it as sashimi.  The print was quite excellent, and reports were that the sashimi was too.  I have no doubt that Naoki was offered a very nice price if he was interesting in selling the print.     

Another very accomplished gyotaku artist is a fellow by the name of Burt Lancaster, who also produces wonderful work.  He lives now in Tampa, but spent a number of early years in Japan.  His bio reports that he was a Marine rifleman in Vietnam around the same time I was there, in the same capacity. 

If your curiosity is aroused enough to check out gyotaku online, a good place to start might be the website of Naoki, a leading practitioner of gyotaku, or that of Burt Lancaster – make sure to specify the gyotaku fellow, not the actor.  YouTube has dozens of videos on the subject, including do-it-yourself instruction.  Bonefish Grill, the excellent fish and seafood restaurant in Grand Rapids, has several very nice pieces of gyotaku displayed on the walls.

Years ago I hooked a lunker bass on beautiful Miner Lake, in Allegan County.  No photo is available.  But what I really wish I had would be a gyotaku print to document my single notable angling achievement. 

• Naoki:     https://gyotaku.com
• Burt Lancaster:     http://www.gyotakuart.com
• Bonefish Grill:     1100 East Paris SE, Grand Rapids