Children at a kindergarten in Shimanto City in Japan's western prefecture of Kochi enjoyed an event in which they caught sweetfish released into a swimming pool.

The annual event is organized by a fisheries cooperative of the Shimanto River to help children become familiar with locally sourced sweetfish.

On Thursday, about 100 children tried to catch some 500 sweetfish that were locally farmed using water from the Shimanto River.

One of the children said that the fish were slippery, but she was able to catch a lot of them.

The kindergarten's principal said he wants the children to learn to appreciate living creatures by touching the fish.