Okinawa Man Shocked as Squid Scheduled for Lunch Comes Back to Life, Escapes Through Kitchen Window

An ordinary Tuesday took an extraordinary turn for 62-year-old fisherman Takeshi Muramoto when the squid he was preparing for lunch suddenly twitched, launched itself off the counter, and leapt out of his kitchen window in Okinawa — squelching defiantly back toward the East China Sea.

“I was just heating oil and getting the soy sauce ready,” Takeshi told reporters.
“Then it started wiggling. I assumed it was some post-mortem nerve thing. But then it gave me a look… and jumped.”

Muramoto said the squid flopped onto the windowsill, paused briefly as if to orient itself using echolocation or perhaps spite, and then hurled itself four metres off the balcony into a neighbour’s koi pond.

From there, CCTV footage captured the squid flopping determinedly down the road, narrowly avoiding a moped, before disappearing into a storm drain — presumably en route to the sea.

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AN ESCAPE THAT’S MAKING WAVES

The miraculous getaway has sparked headlines across Japan, with local papers dubbing the squid “Sashimi Shinobi” and “The Tentacled Fugitive.”

“We often say seafood is fresh in Okinawa,” said local fishmonger Hiro Tanaka.
“But we didn’t expect it to walk out on its own.”

A witness, Mrs. Ayaka Watanabe, 71, said:

“I was watering my bonsai tree when I saw a squid dragging itself across the pavement. It looked focused. Determined. Slightly insulted.”

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EXPERTS WEIGH IN

Marine biologist Dr. Naomi Saito says the incident is “very unusual,” though not entirely impossible:

“Cephalopods can retain some nerve activity post-harvest. However, a full escape mission involving height calculation, directional travel, and a koi pond detour suggests either an extreme survival instinct or something far more… cinematic.”

The Japan Meteorological Agency briefly investigated whether the squid may have been affected by solar flare-induced magnetic confusion but later retracted the statement, saying simply:

“It was probably just a very passionate squid.”

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A GROWING CULT ICON

Within hours, the incident had gone viral.

An X account, @FreedomSquid, now has over 180,000 followers

A children’s book titled “The Squid Who Said ‘Not Today’” has been rushed into production

Netflix has allegedly secured the film rights for “Ink: The Great Escape”

Muramoto, still visibly shaken, says he’s given up eating squid “for at least a week.”

“It’s the first time my lunch has stared me down and left of its own accord,” he said. “I respect it.”