In Pictures: Climate change threatens Japan’s cormorant fishing legacy
Only about 50 people in Japan are left carrying on the 1,300-year tradition of using trained birds to dive for fish. The method, known as ukai, was once common in Japan and is considered the ideal way to catch the sweet ayu river fish, but today is largely supported by tourists, who watch the fishermen and their birds bringing in the day’s catch.
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Cormorant fishing master, known as usho, Youichiro Adachi, 48, posing for a picture with his cormorant, before cormorant fishing or ukai, on the Nagara River in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 9, 2023. Environmental changes are bringing more unpredictable weather with heavy rains and a new necessity for anti-flood barriers on a once calm river, with smaller rocks and sand filling the river bottom and obstructing the larger rocks that form ayu river fish's habitats.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Cormorant fishing master, known as usho, Youichiro Adachi, 48, his son Toichiro, 22, and his steersman Naoki Adachi, 44, sailing for cormorant fishing, known as ukai, on the Nagara River in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 9, 2023. The sand and gravel has increased, and along with that the ayu have gotten smaller too."
PHOTO: REUTERS
Cormorant fishing master, known as usho, Youichiro Adachi, 48, stroking his bird's neck during a daily physical check-up to confirm its health and maintain their bond, at home in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 9, 2023. With cormorants being a constant presence in his life, Adachi is the 18th generation of his family to be a usho and one of about 50 people in Japan carrying on the 1,300-year tradition of using trained birds to dive for fish. "For me, cormorants are my partners," he said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Toichiro, 22, son of cormorant fishing master or usho Youichiro Adachi, 48, carrying cormorants in baskets as he prepares for cormorant fishing or ukai, on the Nagara River in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 9, 2023. "I want my son to inherit my job, but it's tough to make a living," Adachi said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Cormorant fishing master, known as usho, Youichiro Adachi (left), 48, holding the leashes tied to the necks and bodies of cormorants as he prepares for cormorant fishing or ukai, on the Nagara River in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 8, 2023. This 1,300-year-old fishing technique consists of swinging a basket of flames over the river to wake the ayu river fish, who dart away from their resting spots and give the birds a chance to catch them and then release them into a bucket with the usho's help.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Cormorant fishing master, known as usho, Youichiro Adachi, 48, sitting near a bonfire before cormorant fishing, known as ukai, on the Nagara River in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 8, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
A tamed cormorant belonging to cormorant fishing master or usho Youichiro Adachi, 48, splashing water with its wings during cormorant fishing or ukai, on the Nagara River in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 8, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Cormorant fishing master, known as usho, Youichiro Adachi, 48, feeding a cormorant with a fish after cormorant fishing, known as ukai, at home in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 8, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Cormorants swimming in a pool after fishing or ukai at cormorant fishing master, also known as usho Youichiro Adachi's garden in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 9, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Cormorant fishing master, known as usho, Youichiro Adachi, 48, sorting ayu river fish bought from a fishmonger to serve at his traditional ryokan inn, which he runs with his mother Miwa in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 10, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Visitors waiting to board a cormorant fishing viewing boat on the Nagara River in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 8, 2023. Ukai, or cormorant fishing, is a 1,300-old tradition largely supported by tourists nowadays, with fleets of boats allowing visitors to eat and drink as they watch the fishermen and birds downriver from Oze.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Spectators watching cormorant fishing master, known as usho, Youichiro Adachi (not pictured), 48, from a viewing boat on the Nagara River in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 8, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Houkan (male counterpart to Geisha) Tatsuji, 29, and Maiko (apprentice female Geisha), Kikuyu, 20, sitting with visitors to watch cormorant fishing or ukai, at a riverside observation deck in the Nagara River, during a trial organized by the nonprofit organization ORGAN in Gifu, Japan, Sept 13, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
A cormorant belonging to cormorant fishing master or usho Youichiro Adachi, 48, resting at a garden in Adachi's house in Oze, Seki, Japan, Sept 9, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
