Cormorant fishing in Uji

City : Kyoto

The traditional fishing using cormorant (Ukai in Japanese) is demonstrated to the tourists during summer season. There are twelve such shows in Japan and you can enjoy the one in Uji in Kansai. Although older fisherman is common, Ukai in Uji is conducted by a young female.

You pay 1,800 yen and get on a boat from the bank of Uji river. There may be other ten to twelve passengers including some foreign tourists, and other five to ten boats around. When the boats anchor and the sun sets, the fisherwoman appears on her boat with two helmsmen, wearing traditional costume.

She handles six cormorants on leads and watches them dive and catch fish. A cormorant catches fish and get it out on a boat. According to her introduction before the fishing, cormorant she use is pelican's family and keep fish in a throat. When she haul in a lead, seize a cormorant by the neck and fish come out, spectators give her an applause.

Cormorant fishing is said to have more than 1,000 years history, however, the one in Nagara river in Gifu prefecture is well known to tourists and others are not so much maybe because they are less spectacular or have fewer number of boats.