Departments
UKAI
鵜飼
cormorant fishing
A cormorant is a large black bird that lives along coastlines and in brackish water. About 1,200 years ago, someone in Japan decided to use the birds to catch fish, and the custom has endured ever since. The practice of cormorant fishing has changed little over hundreds of years.
The Crew and Equipment
An ukai boat is a wooden craft about thirty feet in length. At the front of the boat is a steel basket suspended from a pole that is tilted at an angle away from the boat. This basket contains the kagaribi / 篝火—a fire used for light during fishing. (Cormorant fishing is practiced at night.) The fire also help attract the ayu / 鮎 (sweet fish) that are the ukai crew’s main prey.
An ukai crew consists of three men, one boat, and twelve birds. The three men—the helmsman, the fisherman, and the assistant—each have distinct roles. The helmsman drives and steers the boat, the fisherman handles the cormorants, and the assistant helps the fisherman.
Each cormorant is controlled by a long leash rope tied around its neck. The birds are trained to dive for fish, and hold the fish in their mouths without swallowing them. The fisherman then leads the cormorants back into the boat with the leash rope, where he retrieves the fish.
The nocturnal spectacle of cormorant fishing is a major tourist attraction during the summer months in Japan. Ukai is especially popular in the Nagara River area of Gifu Prefecture.