Japan’s ‘usho’ keep ancient art alive

Novel method: Cormorant masters using their birds to catch sweetfish in Gifu. — AFP

GIFU (Japan): In the pitch black night, fires burn alongside a river in Japan’s Gifu as a handful of men prepare for a ritual that dates back over 1,300 years: fishing with cormorants.

Dressed in traditional clothes, they look like they come from another time. They wield their cormorants, tied together with strings, like puppeteers.