Is this supposed to be some insightful criticism? They've been making the same product for 144 years, and managed to retain the technique from an era only 14 years prior. That's an achievement.

If a place started doing the same in 2017, guess what, they could still make it like they did in the Edo period.

Apart from a bit of machinery for lifting, and starting with frozen fish (which they thaw first anyway), it's basically all manual labour, including adjusting the fire temperature.