When This Diver Strikes A Sunken Shrine, Something Surprising Appears Out Of The Blue

Jumping into open water, is always a different experience for a scuba diver. The vast ocean will always have something new and surprising in store.

Diving Into The Unknown

One particular scuba diver, took the same dive in Japan’s Tateyama Bay for 25 years. He was now 79 years old, and enjoyed this area so much that it became his favorite spot.

Discovers A Shrine

When he reached an algae-covered frame, deep in the depths of the blue, he pulled out a hammer and began banging on the shrine. The noise echoed through the water, creating a piercing signal that a strange undersea creature knew well – a creature who had been answering it for 25 years.

Age Is No Barrier

Hiroyuki Arakawa of Tateyama, Japan, went scuba diving for the first time at 18 – and he loved it so much, that by the time he was 79 years old, he was showing no signs of stopping. “Being in the water, you can be so isolated,” he said. “It’s your own world. I like being in the deep water.

Caretaker Of The Deep

Fortunately for Arakawa, his role as caretaker of a sunken religious shrine led him to dive to depths of 50 feet or more regularly. But on one of his dives about 25 years ago, he found something aside from the structure in need of his attention.

Entrusted With History

Hiroyuki Arakawa has been entrusted to oversee one of the Shinto religion’s shrines called torii, which is located beneath the surface of Japan’s Tateyama Bay.

Ocean Discovery

Over the decades, he became familiar with the marine life. The gentleman dove to the same spot daily, when he discovered the most incredible thing he had ever seen. This was like nothing he had ever witnessed before, and he could not believe his eyes.

Fearing The Worst

He noticed out of the corner of his eye, something so unfamiliar, something huge, something scary coming his way. He took a deep breath and tried to remain calm.

Life changing Moment

As it got closer towards him, he stared in pure amazement. A huge Asian Sheepshead Wrasse fish was having a stare off with the elderly diver. It was incredible. From that day on, they became friends, and he would go visit her in the exact same spot, hit the shrine and she would come to say hello. Yet one day it was very different.

Recalls How His Life Changed Forever

“One day, she was by the shrine’s gate, exhausted,” Arakawa recalled. He soon realized why the fish could barely muster up her strength. “She couldn’t catch her own food,” he said. With this problem as motivation, he came up with a way to help her.

A New Best Friend

For ten days, Arakawa dove into Tateyama Bay to bring five crabs for the fish to eat. He couldn’t let anything happen to her. It seemed that it was just what she needed to regain her health. He named the thriving fish Yoriko, and he continued to visit her from then on out. They became great friends.

Own Secret Code

Arakawa even had his own way to contact Yoriko when he was visiting the shrine. To achieve this, he brought a hammer with him into the water and used it to tap the side of the structure, creating a sound that the fish recognized.

Unbelievable Sights

After about a half-minute, a fish larger and stranger looking than the rest appeared. It was Yoriko, and Arakawa immediately extended his hand to pet the fish on her head. The fish responded.

Very Weird Face

Arakawa explained more about the anatomy of the kobudai fish, as Yoriko’s species is called in Japan. He said that they had earned their name because kobu meant “bump” in Japanese. To him though, the kobudai’s face was noteworthy for a different reason.

Look Closer

He told Great Big Story, “If you look closely, from the front, they look like they have a human face.” And it seemed to him, if you looked at a fish’s face with greater attention, it could even look familiar. “You’ll think it looks like someone you know,” Arakawa said.

Did The Fish Recognize Him?

Arakawa believed that Yoriko recognized his human face too. Recent scientific research could corroborate his theory too: a 2016 study revealed that at least one type of fish could remember faces it had previously seen.

Incredible Study Shows Mind blowing Results

University of Oxford researcher, Dr. Cait Newport, spoke out about the results of the study. “Fish have a simpler brain than humans and entirely lack the section of the brain that humans use for recognizing faces. Despite this, many fish demonstrate impressive visual behaviors.”

Study Shows Fish Can Recognize Humans

“Scientists presented the fish with two images of human faces and trained them to choose one by spitting their jets at that picture,” Dr. Cait Newport from Oxford University explained further.

A Relationship Like No Other

As for Arakawa and Yoriko, the scuba diver believed that their relationship – and countless warm reunions – ignited for one big reason: food. “I think anyone can get an animal’s attention by feeding them,” he told Great Big Story.

Hard To Accomplish

But Arakawa admitted that their bond wasn’t instantaneously forged with food – it took more than that. The scuba diver, who petted and sometimes even kissed Yoriko on her head, said, “To touch or interact with [animals] is harder to accomplish.

A Sense Of Trust In Dangerous Times

Whatever the truth of that, he couldn’t say with certainty whether Yoriko’s species had anything to do with their unique bond either. “I’m not sure if it’s in the nature of the kobudai or not,” he said. But he did venture a guess that their bond came from the “sense of trust between [them].” He made it his mission to protect her against poachers and hunters.

Two Decades Of Friendship

They’ve had more than two decades to build their rapport, but it was the beginning that solidified their relationship. Arakawa said, “I guess she knows that I saved her, that I helped her when she was badly injured.”

Honorable Act

And for the 79-year-old, that meant more than anything else. “For me to be able to [save her], I am proud,” he said. “I have an amazing sense of accomplishment in my heart,” he added. As he did so, the smallest hint of a smile crept across his face.

Becomes A Viral Sensation

Arakawa and Yoriko’s friendship has very much resonated with viewers across the internet. More than two million people have watched the YouTube video in which he smooched the fish on her forehead; his interview with Great Big World garnered more than 350,000 views.

Heart Warming Tale

For many who have discovered this story, the relationship between man and fish has certainly warmed their hearts, it did ours. “This is a beautiful story showing love and respect,” one Facebook user commented. Another viewer on YouTube couldn’t help but note the seemingly endless wonder of the planet-at-large, writing, “Mother Nature once again proves to be amazing.”

Is The Fish Going To Be Ok?

‘I guess she knows that I saved her and that I helped her when she was badly injured.’ More than two decades since her early health problems, it appears that Yoriko is in good health.

Life Expectancy For His Best Friend

There is little information on the Asian sheepshead wrasse’s life expectancy. But it’s known that they can reach up to 3.2ft long. Hiroyuki pays Yoriko regular visits as he looks after an underwater religious shrine in Japan’s Tateyama Bay. Reflecting on his long-running marine friendship, Hiroyuki concluded: ‘I have an amazing sense of accomplishment in my heart.’

If only more people took care of the ocean’s creatures, the world would be a better place. We are in awe of this story and what an amazing man he is, we hope he keeps diving daily and that his friend lives for a while longer.