THE 
AMERICAN NATURALIST. 
VoL. XXII. JANUARY, 1888. No. 258. 
ON CORMORANT FISHING IN JAPAN. 
BY P. L. JOUY. 
N the clear mountain streams of Central Japan there is found a 
peculiar fish of the family Salmonide, the Plecoglossus alti- 
velis T. & S. This fish, the “ Ai” of the Japanese, is something 
between a trout and a smelt in appearance, grows to a length of 
twelve to fourteen inches, and is a bright silvery in color, with a 
golden spot on each shoulder. It is very delicate in flavor, and is 
much prized for the table. In a country celebrated for the variety 
and excellence of its fish, this species holds the highest place and 
commands the best price in the market. Many ingenious methods 
are employed for its capture, among the most interesting of which 
is the use of cormorants. 
We are all familiar with the stories of cormorant fishing in China 
where the fisherman has his birds trained to obey a call-note or 
whistle, and where they sit around the edge of the boat, and go and 
return to and from the water like a well-trained spaniel; but cor- 
morant fishing in a rapid mountain stream in Japan, is quite a dif- 
ferent thing from fishing in a sluggish, muddy river in China, and 
I believe that the Japanese methods are quite unknown, being car- 
ried on at night, and ‘in remote and out of the way places. | 
Before quoting from my note-book I will preface by stating that 
I made a journey, of about twenty-five miles, from Tokio to a small 
river, the Banugawa, on purpose to witness this interesting and, to 
me, novel sight. : ; 
September 8th, 1886. We left the tea-house about eight 
o’clock to keep our appointment with the cormorant fisher. It was 
