There are a lot of weird and wacky things on the internet, and usually if it’s too crazy to be true if often turns out to be a hoax or a prank. We initially thought the same thing about the Katsugyo Bag for carrying live fish but a little digging revealed that this is a real product currently under development where else but Japan.
Katsugyo is Japanese which roughly translates to ‘live fish’ but the Katsugyo Bag is anything but a bag but is instead a complete self-contained live fish transporting vessel. At first we really thought this device was just a gag to get the lolz on social media but it appears to be a real prototype of a legitimate product under development.
Nevermind that all of the images of the prototype Katsugyo Bag show a pressure gauge reading zero pressure, but there’s actually a whole separate compartment taking up half of the cylindrical prototype which has a number of what we presume to be life support components. The Katsugyo Bag is not designed to keep ornamental fish comfortable but instead is intended to keep live food fish ‘alive’ so that they remain fresh until they are ready to be prepared for consumption.
We can imagine any number of ways to keep fish alive including a simple bucket with an aerator but one advantage of the Katsugyo Bag is that it is longer and probably contains the minimum amount of water volume to keep a fish alive in order to reduce the carrying weight. The rear chamber of the Katsugyo Bag appears to be equipped with a DC power inlet, presumably for charging, a 1/4″ fitting for some kind of input, maybe oxygen, and a screw on cap for accessing who knows what.
This is a lot of attention to detail if the Katsugyo Bag is just an instagram prank but it really does appear to be a legitimate working device prototype for pescatarians who want the freshest fish possible. We’re very curious to see the final iteration of the Katsugyo Bag which is expected to be shaped a little more like a suitcase and discovering the mechanics that keep fish alive during transport. Check the video below to see a little but more of how the Katsugyo Bag is used.
