Meet Hiroyuki Arakawa he’s a scuba diver who’s been entrusted with protecting a Torii Shinto shrine that’s a part of the Hasama Underwater Park near Tateyama, Japan.
And no… an underwater park isn’t the weirdest part of this story.
The most unusual part of the story is the friend that Arakawa has made during his decades of overseeing the shrine and guiding those who wish to visit the shrine, according to Atlas Obscura.
During this time, Arakawa has become besties with a fish.
Meet Yoriko, an Asian sheepshead wrasse who always greets Arakawa when he dives below the waves to visit the shrine. Whenever Arakawa arrives he bangs on a metal pipe to summon Yoriko.
When Yoriko arrives, Arakawa plants a big ole’ kiss on her.
These two have hung out pretty much every single day for the last 25 to 30 years.
“I’d say we understand each other,” Arakawa, 79, told Great Bit Story. “Not that we can talk to each other but, it just happened naturally. I kissed her once but I’m the only person she will let do it.”
Arakawa, who has been a scuba diver for more than 60 years, said that Yoriko lives by the shrine’s gates which are about 56 feet underwater.
“If you look closely from the front, the look like they have a human face,” Arakawa explains. “When you look really close you’ll think it looks like someone you know.”
One day during his visit, Arakawa found Yoriko looking completely exhausted and unable to catch her own food. So, he made sure to hand feed her five crabs a day for 10 days until she was well again.
“I guess she knows that I save her, that I helped her when she was badly injured,” Arakawa explains. “For me to be able to do that, I am proud. I have an amazing sense of accomplishment in my heart.”
In addition to kisses, Yoriko also lets Arakawa snaps selfies of them.
“I think anyone can get an animal’s attention by feeding them, but to touch or interact with them is harder to accomplish,” Arakawa says. “I’m not sure if it’s the nature of kobudai or not but it’s probably because there is a sense of trust between us.”
You can tell that Yoriko definitely does trust and love Arakawa in the video below. Enjoy the lovefest.
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