Larissa Corriveau made her debut earlier this month as the nation's first foreign cormorant fisher, with her trainer hoping she will help introduce the world to the ancient Japanese tradition of using the birds to catch river fish.
On the first day of the annual cormorant fishing season this year on the Oi River in Kyoto's Arashiyama area, Corriveau, who holds dual German-Canadian citizenship, smiled at tourists and other onlookers after being applauded for successfully handling four cormorants and getting a dozen fish out of them by squeezing their throats.
"It was difficult to control the cormorants because the water level was high, but I was able to hold on thanks to the cheering," the 28-year-old novice said later, speaking in Japanese.