Cormorant Fishing, Nagara River (Translation)
鵜飼 (長良川) 昭和二十九年作 (Primary Title)
Kawase Hasui 川瀬巴水, Japanese, 1883 - 1957 (Artist)
Namikawa Siezo (Carver)
Horikawa Shōzaburō (Printer)
Watanabe Shōzaburō 渡邊庄三郎, Japanese, 1885 - 1962 (Publisher)
On the Nagara River in Gifu Prefecture, local fishing masters have practiced nighttime cormorant fishing (ukai) for over 1,300 years. Cormorants, a type of aquatic bird, are tethered as they dive below the water’s surface to gather up whole fish in their mouths and return them above deck. Suspended on poles attached to the boats are iron baskets filled with burning firewood, lighting the way for the fishermen and attracting fish to the surface.
Showa period (1926-1989)
巴水 Hasui
Artist's seal; Publisher's seal Watanabe Shōzaburō
鵜飼 (長良川) 昭和二十九年作
René and Carolyn Balcer Collection
Brown, Kendall. Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints. Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2014.
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