The traditional shirouo fishing, which is said to herald the arrival of spring and is locally called 'shirauo', began in Uwajima City, Ehime Prefecture.
Shirouo is a transparent fish with a body length of about 5 centimeters. Every year around this time, it swims up the Iwamatsu River in Tsushima-cho, Uwajima City to spawn.
Known locally as "Shirauo", traditional fishing is practiced here.
Kazuya Matsuura, who has been fishing for four generations, has started fishing with his mother, Norie, from the 15th.
Fishing involves rowing a small boat to the middle of the river and slowly spreading the net.
Then, when the tide stops, the nets are quietly pulled into shallow water.
On the 15th, we caught a large catch of more than 1 sho (about 1.8 liters) at a time, and the transparent white sardines were bouncing vigorously in the basket.
Mr. Matsuura said, "From the first day, we had a big catch. I want the locals to be happy because it's a fish that heralds spring, and I want them to eat whitebait and get well."
Shirouo fishing will continue until the beginning of next month, and on the 29th of this month, an event will be held where you can experience dancing and eating for the first time in three years.