Torch Lights on Fishing Boats- Cormorant Fishing

Torch-lit fishing boats illuminate the water in this woodblock print depicting ukai, the ancient practice of cormorant fishing. In this method, trained cormorants dive for sweetfish (ayu) while fishermen on boats manage the birds using leashes tied around their throats, preventing them from swallowing large catches. The torches, called kagaribi, serve to attract fish to the surface while casting dramatic reflections across the river. Ukai has been practiced in Japan for over a thousand years, most famously on the Nagara River near Gifu. Arai captures the spectacle of flames dancing on dark water, the birds working beneath the surface. The subject allowed him to combine his figurative skills with atmospheric effects, creating a scene that is both genre documentation and visual drama.