Bird carvings have typically been thought of as a Western art form, but Haruo Uchiyama is challenging this assumption. Even the birds that have come into contact with his carvings have been made believers.
Seven years ago in Torishima, an island located some 600 km south of Tokyo, researchers enlisted Uchiyama's help in a large-scale relocation of the short-tailed albatross. The purpose was to conserve the world's largest colony of the bird by moving the population to a safer habitat. Thanks to decoys made by Uchiyama, the project was a success, resulting in only one minor tragedy -- a bird planted itself down before a decoy, apparently in love.
"That albatross got attached to the same decoy two years in a row," the 49-year-old carver says smiling, at his home/workshop in Chiba Prefecture.