Comments on Bruce’s blog got me thinking about the word for squid, which turns out to be “ika”. It’s possible it could sound like a cuckoo if the seller is yelling. And if they have a dry sense of humor they might throw in a phrase like “Ika wa ikaga?” Roughly translated I think it means “how’s the squid” or “how about some squid”. Puns in a native tongue are funny, but foreign puns are absolutely fascinating — they are like keys to unlock the treasure of another culture.

I also found a visual connection with squid and birds in Japan mentioned on the japantimes.co.jp site:

Ika is generally written with phonetic kana characters, most likely because of the unusual kanji characters it has been assigned. It is written “thieving crow,” because the bird has been known to swoop down and grab squid as they float lazily on the ocean’s surface or hang on the massive drying racks used to make the jerky-like surume-ika.

Here’s another attempt at a haiku for Bruce…

Trawler nets glide by
Mother squid caresses eggs
in obscurity