Japan: It's hard to believe that something that is today labelled as ‘the most dangerous fishing event in Japan’ actually started out as an April Fool's Day prank - but that's exactly how this piranha catching event began.

Today, for this popular event, about 1,000 razor-toothed, flesh-eating piranhas are flown in to Japan especially from the Amazon River in South America - each in its own individual container. Guests then queue up to catch these dangerous fish.

As per a report by Euro News, it all started as an April Fool's Day prank, when people took the organiser's joke about a piranha fishing event seriously. Yano Tomoyuki explains: ‘I said that I was importing 100,000 piranhas into Japan for a piranha fishing event. I thought it was very obviously a joke. However, some people didn't understand it was a joke and kept calling me asking, where can I buy tickets? Is this a real event? When is it starting?’

Yano goes on to elucidate on the objective behind this fishing event: ‘The goal of this event was to teach people about the different types of meats from around the world. When I was travelling around the world, I tried many different types of meats, so I wanted to create an event where I could share the customs of these different countries.’

The piranhas, however, are not on the menu - they are caught and returned to the pond.

Piranhas are described as ‘extremely predatory’ fish, famous for their sharp teeth and powerful jaws.