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Nao Sengoku has pet fish that she never has to feed,
that she never has to worry about when she is on holiday, and that never need
cleaning out. If she is bored with them, she can
make them disappear for as long as she wants because her fish are on TV - the
Goldfish Channel. The Goldfish Channel broadcasts
live to about 12,000 households in the city of Asahikawa in Hokkaido. Six
goldfish appear from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and another tank of goldfish from 8 p.m.
to 8 a.m. - goldfish need to sleep as well! "It
all began as a joke," says Ryuji Saruta, the sales manager of the cable TV
station which produces the Goldfish Channel. "I
was talking with some friends about how difficult it was to keep pets, especially
if you live in an apartment. Then somebody suggested
producing a program that made people feel as if they had pets at home. Fish
are perfect because you enjoy them by watching, and a fish tank is the same shape
as a television set anyway. Nao Sengoku, 10 years
old, loves the Goldfish Channel. "My friends
and I often watch the Goldfish Channel for a long time without saying a thing,"
she says. When Nao's pet hamster died she cried for
days. "I don't want to keep live pets anymore. It's
too sad when they die. Goldfish on TV are good because
you don't see them die," says Nao and her brother agrees. | 
