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Hawk hunter with passion
Mr. Matsubara sits with his golden eagle perched on his forearm. Spending endless hours with the bird, Mr. Matsubara slowly trains the eagle. 99.11.14/ Temperature: 5C/ Weather: Cloudy/ Wind Direction: NW
Start: Asahi Village / Latitude 38 35 19 N/139 52 27 E
Destination: Tamugimata, Asahi Village/ Latitude: 39 33 28 N / Longitude: 139 56 34 E
Distance Traveled: 6 kmI have met many people on this journey who each follow their own path to find their relationship with nature. Today I met one of the most passionate, dedicated followers of such a path. Mr. Matsubara is one of the last hawk hunters in Japan.
It is supposed that hawk hunting has a history of at least 1600 years in Japan. The clever predatory birds were used to aid the imperial household in hunting hare, Japanese mink, martens, squirrels, and foxes. Walking along mountain ridges with hawk in hand, hunters search for areas in which prey might be roaming. As soon as the hawk senses prey, the hunter releases the giant bird and chases after it down into the valley. Once something is caught, the hunter removes the hawk from the prey and retrieves the hawk using bait.
At the beginning of the Meiji era (1868) the age-old tradition began its decline.
Walking through the woods with the eagle is another part of Mr. Matsubara's and the eagle's training. Amidst the adverse conditions of the financial instability of hawk hunting, new environmental regulations, and the demands of strict training, Mr. Matsubara made his decision to become a hawk hunter with great determination. This was followed by the difficulty of convincing his master to accept him as an apprentice.
Living in the mountains of Iwate Prefecture, Mr. Matsubara found the courage to make his decision. "After living in a small rural village in the mountains of Iwate Prefecture, I was not satisfied with the lifestyle there. I had a dream of living a complete life of self-subsistence, but many of the people in the village went to the city during the winter to make a living. Searching for my dream of a way to live with nature all year-round, I remembered a video I had seen about a hawk hunter. I love animals and I love being in nature. The hunting season is in the winter, so I could farm in the spring, summer and fall and hunt throughout the winter. Hawk hunting seemed to suit me. Using animals to catch animalsc it was perfect."
At the top of the food chain, the golden eagle can catch animals as large as foxes. His decision to become a hunter was made easily enough. It was the years that followed which created one of the biggest challenges in Mr. Matsubara's life. "I had to sleep near my master's house for quite some time before he accepted me as an apprentice. He told me that now is no time for a hawk hunter to make a living. I knew this very well. I wouldn't back down. I ended up sleeping close to my master's house and going to him everyday. I told him that if he wouldn't accept me as an apprentice that I would come to him everyday and try to learn from him on my own. After 7 refusals, I was finally able to start my apprenticeship."
Learning hawk hunting is not like any of the now so common "master ----- in 90 minutes" video tapes. "It took four and a half years before I made my first catch," said Mr. Matsubara in his soft voice. "You don't know how moved I was when my hawk left my own hand and caught prey. I felt as if I was alive just for that one moment. It was the happiest moment of my life and I thought I was the luckiest man in the world. All of the hardships of training seemed trivial." The happiness of that moment echoed in his voice. I couldn't help but feel happy myself.
Every year acclimitizing the hawk to Mr. Matsubara's hand and getting fit enough to trek through four meters of snow is a process that is very time consuming, requires limitless patience and brings Mr. Matsubara into his ideal relationship with nature. As I saw during my stay with Mr. Matsubara, he spends endless hours in the late evening and early morning with the magnificent bird perched on his forearm. "In the early winter the hawk must get used to me in dark. Once it is used to me in the dark, I spend endless hours outside in the daylight with the hawk." As I watched Mr. Matsubara in the darkness of his living room with his hawk, the two seemed to blend together in unity.
When out hunting the two spend days together walking the ridges of mountains together and sleeping in a snow shelter.
Mr. Matsubara has some advice for WSN. "Follow your passion. Don't be afraid of going into poverty. Somehow through all of the hardship, you will reach a satisfaction like no other you have experienced before. Overcoming the barriers to your dreams will allow you to see what you never thought you could." Unless someone has this kind of passion, it is very likely that the art of hawk hunting will pass away with its last masters.
I was moved by the way Mr. Matsubara has followed his passion with determination and by his unique way of living with nature. I hope to live up to his advice and follow my own passion in discovering my relationship with nature.
Greg
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