Kagoshima: Hawk Soars in Demonstration of Edo-Period Hunting Practice, Draws Visitors

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:08 JST, January 17, 2026

KAGOSHIMA — Visitors to Sengan-en garden in Kagoshima City earlier this month were awed by the spectacular sight of a hawk soaring in the sky. The bird was the star of a New Year’s event demonstrating falconry, a hunting practice favored by feudal lords during the Edo period (1603-1867).

Sengan-en garden was once a villa belonging to the Shimazu clan, feudal lords whose territory included the land that makes up present-day Kagoshima Prefecture. According to the garden’s operators, records indicate that lord Shimazu Yoshihisa (1533-1611) enjoyed falconry, and a still extant folding screen painting of a hawk, made by the 28th head of the clan, Shimazu Nariakira (1809-58), testifies to the deep connection the Shimazu family had to these birds.

During the event, Masashi Fumoto, a falconer from Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture, demonstrated techniques such as releasing a female hawk named Kohime to fly to pine and cherry trees and having her catch fake prey thrown into the air. He also had her catch eggplants, treating onlookers to combination view of Mt. Fuji — in this case Mt. Sakurajima — a hawk and an eggplant, which are considered lucky things for the New Year.

One audience member, a 71-year-old woman visiting from Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture, smiled and said, “We were blessed with good weather and got to see something wonderful right from the New Year.”