“Nobeoka Ayu-yana” with its over-300-year tradition

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Nobeoka city is located in northern part of Miyazaki prefecture. Gokasegawa River, Osegawa River, Hourigawa River, Kitagawa River and other large rivers stream through the city, which has been known as “Suigoh Nobeoka, a water town Nobeoka” since early times. Every autumn they hold “Ayu-yana, a fishing weir for ayu, sweetfish”. This is one of seasonal charming sights in this water town Nobeoka, with over-300-year tradition since Edo Era. Also, its fish-grilling scenery is marked out as one of “The Most Tasteful 100 Landscapes” by Ministry of Environment. It is a landscape in the original state for Nobeoka people.

Ayu-yana, a fishing weir for ayu is a traditional fishing method. It takes advantages of Ayu’s second nature which they would float down the river for egg laying in Autumn, the season of wind in the west. Ayu is induced and pushed into Otesu, a small box weaved of bamboo. Ayu-yana is popular in Japan. But Nobeoka’s is unique in its very big scaled installation over more-than-100-meter river width, and its location in urban area where you can see factory smokestacks at a short distance.