Kyoto Calling - U KAI

...I've been away so long...

First, a personal note: I've been back and forth between Tokyo and NY and I've ignored this blog for a while. Leaving the "Kyoto Calling" series as a cliff hanger for so long has left everyone - or at least me - flat. Sorries! If I can remember all of the posts I want to write, I'll have quite a few ready for publication over the next several days. Yes, I know this blog "journal" is filled with personal notes. I just wanted to let the both of you who follow this blog that I apologize for letting it lapse.

Ok. so...

Woke up, got out of bed, wondered if I'd get fed. Made the (tour) bus in minutes flat, found my way to the back and sat right down. Somebody spoke, but I didn't understand... there was no English tour guide on the bus! I didn't figure it was a big problem, since there wasn't much English spoken in Tokyo either. We arrived in the part of Kyoto called Arashamiya. The big touristy thing to do there is watch U Kai, which is what we did after a traditional Japanese dinner. U Kai is the Japanese term for it. Here's the wikipedia page that discuss it. Basically, it is a traditional way of fishing that uses trained cormorant birds. These birds are used by the fishermen instead of bait and tackle! They also have a ring around their necks, so if the cormorant does catch a fish of any appreciable size, it cannot swallow the fish. The fisherman hauls the bird into the boat and makes it spit out the fish! We got on these flat bottom boats and made our way to the middle of the river and... waited until dark. Then the fisherman came by in their boats. I took a picture of the fishermen below:

Actually, I stole that picture from a wikipedia link. Here's a small video of the fishing...

It was really a lot of fun, even if this wasn't a classic fishing tale as told by Hemmingway, or Wolff! After the fishing demonstration was over, we went back to the bus and headed back to my hotel. I didn't get to see any of the fish that did end up getting caught, but it was a lot of fun.