BULMERC, to clarify all the other posts on this subject, 1 it is a hawg no matter where it came from. 2 World record means the biggest one CAUGHT in the WORLD, Japan is part of the world, it does not matter where it is native too, as there are so many non native species now in EVERY country. JApan actully considers bass as trash fish and they did not want them there to start with, just like the carps' they all are non native to the US, qalso now there are Peacock bass in Fla, they are native to South america, but the World record could come from Fla. A world record is a world record period, now the Perry bass is the US record, so you still can be proud.