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PHOTOS: Deadly catch

Tokyo chef Yutaka Sasaki begins preparing the daily catch: the poisonous blowfish, or fugu, which each year kills several Japanese who have eaten improperly prepared versions of it.

Tokyo chef Yutaka Sasaki begins preparing the daily catch: the poisonous blowfish, or fugu, which each year kills several Japanese who have eaten improperly prepared versions of it.  (John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times)

Japanese chef Yutaka Sasaki hopes to remove the stigma associated with one of the most poisonous fish on the planet: He wants to feed it to the emperor.

Blowfish

An average-sized fugu is chock-full of the poison tetrodotoxin, which has no known antidote.  (John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times)

Blowfish

Sasaki slices into the blowfish at his Tokyo restaurant. Diners in Japan can pay $450 for a multi-course meal.  (John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times)

Junpei Sasaki

Junpei Sasaki slices the skin from a blowfish.  (John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times)

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Junpei Sasaki

Junpei Sasaki at work. Over the last dozen years, there have been hundreds of cases of blowfish poisoning in Japan, as many as 34 of them fatal, Japanese health officials say.  (John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times)

Plate

A plate at Yutaka Sasaki’s Tokyo restaurant Tairyo, which is frequented by Japanese politicians and celebrities looking to dine on blowfish.  (John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times)

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