Man, it was a long day in Kyoto but one of the best days of the trip. We’d seen the Golden Temple, Nijo Castle and the 1000 armed Kannon statues at Sanjusagen-do that took 70 artists 100 years to carve. We’d walked a lot. I mean a LOT. As planned we ended up in Gion, Kyoto’s Geisha district and after spotting a pair of young geishas walking presumably to work, we wanted some sushi. I mean, how hard could it be to find a good sushi joint in Gion.

Apparently, quite.

Well after a ten minute walk down Sanjo-dori across the Kamo river bridge we found Ganko Sushi. This was a place with everything you could imagine sushi-wise. I searched the English menu and found exactly what I was looking for.

Fugu.

Now, I live in L.A. land of ten thousand sushi joints. I could probably get Fugu in a dozen places within a ten minute drive from me. But to be honest, I always knew if I was going to try poisonous blowfish, it was going to be in Japan.

So it came, sitting rather innocently on the rectangular sushi plate garnished with a dot of masago and a few green onions. If I hadn’t ordered it myself I would have thought it to be a nice piece of yellowtail. I picked it up with my chopsticks and wondered, “Could a piece of fish actually kill me?”

So I told my wife and son I loved them just to cover my bases just in case and popped the Fugu into my mouth. Nice flavor, a bit tougher texture than yellowtail, possibly more like toro.

And as I chewed and swallowed and awaited my Fugu fate, I could feel the back of my mouth and tongue go slightly numb from the toxins. No, I didn’t worry since I’d heard this was normal.

But then I grabbed my throat and began coughing. I dropped my chopsticks to the table and my shoulders slacked as my body went limp. The panic on my wife’s face was instant.

… and quite satisfying as, of course, I was faking it. I mean, how often do you get a great setup like that?

Her annoyance with me went away quickly as we shared a laugh and toast of plum wine. It was a great day. Lots of memorable adventures in Kyoto and a truly fantastic meal of sushi and tempura at a beautiful restaurant to top it all off. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.