Matsuri da! (69): Falconry as a Shinto rite

ALL SHINTO SHRINES have an enshrined deity, and most have more than one. The spirit of the deity can be almost anything; it is often that of a person, but it can also be a natural object, such as a tree. There is a Shinto shrine about a 20-minute drive from my house where people go to worship a phallic-shaped rock (particularly if they want children).

The enshrined deity in the Suwa Shinto shrine in Hamatama-cho, Karatsu, a small city on the Sea of Japan in Saga, is a falcon.

Late last November, the shrine held an annual event in which falconers fly several types of falcons as an offering to the deity. Shown in the photo is 13-year-old Ishibashi Misato of Takeo, the youngest female falconer in Kyushu.

The story goes that falconers first came to the shrine about 1500 years ago from the Korean Peninsula. The event during which the flights occur is part of the shrine’s fall festival, and since last year, they have asked the World Falconers’ Club of Kyushu to participate.
　
Miss Ishibashi is shown flying a Harris hawk, which has a wingspread of about one meter. She lets the hawk fly freely, but it will return to the glove on her left hand when she blows a whistle.

For some people, the image of Japan is a land of Hello Kitty, robots, cartoons and comic books, and otaku who spend too much time alone in their rooms. From my perspective, however, this story and all its constituent elements are just as much a part of modern Japanese life as anything mentioned in the previous sentence. And it’s just one small event in one small town in one corner of the country.

Multiply this by several million more stories, each just as unique its own way, and the real picture starts to emerge.