Interview: Misato Ishibashi, Japan
By Ellen Hagen, Norway
Misato is a young falconer from Japan. She was recently in a Japanese advertisement for a smartphone with one of her hawks. Ellen Hagen, Vice President of IAF Women’s Working Group, profiled her for the WWG Newsletter in a recent interview. Here’s how it went.
Tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Misato Ishibashi and I am 23 years old. I live in the city Takeo in Saga prefecture, Kyushu. Kyushu is southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. This is a very peaceful countryside where I can watch birds of prey around me in the landscape. The convenience of transportation is good so I can easily travel around to visit friends, go sightseeing or go out eating.
Takeo's symbol is Takeo Onsen, which is a communal bath. The tower and the main building are important cultural properties of Japan. There are three types of communal baths and two baths for rental. There is the “Bath of Lord” (tonosama-no-yu) and the “Homemaking bath”. When the Lord of the Nabeshima family came to hunt with hawks, they would also take a bath here. Takeo Onsen, a hot spring, has a history going back 1600 years. Next to the Takeo Onsen, there is a historic centre. Takeo also has various craftsmen; for example, there is pottery here that is considered national treasures. There is a pottery street market once a month close to the hot springs.
Misato is presenting falconry in the spirit of the old tradition.
How and when did you get interested in falconry?
I was impressed when I saw a hawk sold overseas in Thailand. Later, when I was in the third grade of elementary school, I made an agreement with my parents and got a female kestrel chick. She was my first bird of prey and was like a little sister to me in a way. I was responsible and took care of her by myself, with my father as a mentor. I enjoyed the time we spent together, and found it so fascinating how food was used for training birds of prey. In fifth grade, I got my first Harris hawk. I did a lot of flying around the house and crows would often come into this area. I quickly noticed that crows did not like my hawk, and as my grandfather had a farm, I used the hawk to clear the ground of crows. Every day I wanted to learn more about them, and that is how I started with falconry.
From making commercials with Sony Xperia to having contact with a Minister, tell us a little bit about your networks.
My network is very broad; it consists of school, welfare and university relations, and other similar areas too. Then there are networks that customers support, like my recent Xperia commercial. Furthermore, I have contact with and have appeared on state broadcasting TV stations, private television stations, two larger documentaries, and newspapers in various fields.
When I met and talked with Prime Minister Abe of Japan, I took along my falcon. He won the biggest tournament in the country on lure passing and I got a prize for being the first woman to enter, at that time I was seventeen years old. After flying my falcon for the Prime Minister, I made the following appeal to him in relation to the current situation on using falconry as a method for pest birds: “There are many agricultural workers in Saga prefecture, but most of them are old people. There are few people who can take countermeasures by themselves against pest birds. The damage caused by birds is much larger than just in Saga prefecture. In addition, measures are burdensome to individual farmers. After clearance with a trained hawk, farmers regain healthy production. Therefore, I want the policy on hunting to be improved.” A representative from the prefecture was invited and I was elected the falconer in charge of bird control.
At the University of Tokyo, I was chosen as one of the project lecturers. I believe that through the curriculum of primary school, there is a great message to be taught to children that are exposed to the presence of hawks at a young age. For the first time in this project, parents and children took lectures together. Here, I helped them with practical skills but I realized it was a little different from what I had in mind and adjusted this accordingly. That is the way with education – you must connect to the group to be able to teach to them.
I think we need more Japanese falconers, and young people are the future of this. There is great potential in bird abatement, and even though it is difficult to manage, it gets great results.
Promoting Xperia as a modern falconer
Meeting with the prime minister of Japan
You also do education about birds of prey and falconry in schools. How do you find doing that?
Yes, in Japan children know me well. They all say, “Ishibashi Misato is a falconer!” The teachers call me and I arrange to visit the school. It is very gratifying work, and I enjoy going. I think it is very important to educate the young.
What do you like most about falconry? Do you have any hawking preferences?
I like the moment the bird takes off for hunting, I like casting them. I feel like there is a lake in my chest and it’s all quiet for a moment as I hold my breath, and then the hunt is on. I feel a sense of unity with birds also in the way that we live together.
I hunt crows, I enjoy that the most. It makes for good experience for both the hawk and me, and the crows are plentiful in the area where I live.
Education of falconry is important for Misato.
The young falconer is active to promote heritage, hunting and pest control
You are also a priest at a shrine. Falconry is a very old tradition in Japan – what can you tell us about that?
The place, Karatsu, in Saga prefecture, is where falconry is said to have first arrived in Japan. After that, the technology and teachings of falconry were awarded to the Emperor of Nintoku (仁徳). Later, in the legend, a child born between a Korean falconer and a Japanese princess is said to have spread falconry around Japan. (See the WWG project on Historical female falconers at www.iaf.org/wwg).
I'm trying to revive falconry at the Arai School, and I am now involved with the local residents and descendants of the Nabeshima family and the administration. I think that this school is the best school in Japan. I found an object featuring the name of the legendary Japanese falconer Nemoto. It is a mirror belonging to this falconer. I want to cherish the falconer’s soul that he left behind.
This winter, on November 23, at Kotiku event (a traditional costume event there will be a dedication to the princess, the Baekje falconer and to a hawk Shinto priest). There will also be a Falconry Symposium as part of the Nabeshima 400-year anniversary festival, all this is held simultaneously. We hope there will be a publication about the Arai School as well. Everyone is welcome to join us at the Symposium.
Falconry connects people, at the WASH conference in Holland in 2016 Misato (right) met with Ellen (middle), for a second time. Misato's friend to the left.