It looks like I'm bleeding?

-Your ear.
-Oh, really?

This is a common thing.

It's no big deal.

I've been pushed to the brink before.

It's happened plenty of times.

But I held my desire to live among the hawks.

That's gotten me through thick and thin.

One man resides deep in the mountains of Yamagata, in Japan's Tohoku region.

Matsubara Hidetoshi is a falconer.

The price of birdfeed has gone up so much.

This is just old crushed rice.

While getting by on a modest pension, he spends his days ruggedly living among the animals.

Next to Matsubara's residence is a shack.

In it, he keeps a large raptor, the mountain hawk-eagle.

I named it Kabugo.

It's pretty old. Over 25.

The bird weighs around 3 kilograms.

Fully spread, it has an impressive 1.5-meter wingspan.

Seizing prey with its keen talons, the hawk-eagle perches at the top of the local ecosystem as the "king of the forest."

The Tohoku region holds a long tradition of hunting with the birds during the agricultural off-season.

The practice was used to catch wild rabbits for their pelts, which would be sold for seasonal income.

This technique was passed down over centuries, but it's now wielded by Matsubara alone.

His hunting ground each year is Mt. Gassan, a site of religious pilgrimages.

When snow covers the mountain greenery, the season of falconry arrives.

Falconers began training birds before the onset of winter.

Don't let go yet. Got hold?

I'll cover his face.

Cords are attached to the bird's legs for use in training.

The gripping strength of the hawk-eagle is thought to be far greater than that of humans,

with talons that slice through flesh like paper.

Hold on.

The light is an issue,
but I got him on my arm.

The open beak shows his agitation.

He's angry.

As the pair lives and eats together, a 3-month training regimen commences.

They begin in a dark room.

Perched atop its master's arm, the bird acclimates to the presence of the falconer.

Hawk-eagles are an especially cautious species of hawk, showing reluctance to sit on human arms.

For years and years, we've been like this,
living together.

It isn't about the bird getting familiar with you.

Step by step, you need to approach it.

Until your hearts and minds are one.

That's the way it feels.

Softly, you reach out to him.

Matsubara has been a falconer for some 50 years.

It's no exaggeration to say that he's devoted his life to his birds.

Once we spend 10 or so days in the darkness,
he calms down.

Then we begin gradually lighting the room
with candlelight.

He gets used to the presence of the falconer.

Matsubara gently touches the bird to check its muscle levels.

During training, the bird's food supply is kept very low in order to induce hunger.

This serves to enhance its hunting instincts.

At over 25, Kabugo would be around 70 in human years.

The intense training takes its toll on his aging form.

If hawks get too hungry, they'll become weak and die.

But if you let them have too much energy,
they're hard to control and may fly off.

There is that risk.

Respecting that balance in their strength
is very challenging for a falconer.

Matsubara is 73 years old.

5 years ago he suffered a stroke.

An infection also claimed the vision in his left eye.

The older I get, the more I start to feel pain
in my legs.

I've started to lose strength, going down in stages.

I need to keep myself fit.

If I don't, I'll lose my ability to walk among the
snowy mountains by the time I'm 75.

A few days later, Matsubara makes the decision to halt Kabugo's training.

It may be his age, but I feel less aggression
than before.

He remembers the bitter experience of pushing a bird too hard, resulting in its death.

His failure to realize the bird's fragile state haunts him to this day.

As you raise aggression by reducing
the bird's food intake

I think it places a heavy physical burden
on older hawks.

Kabugo's long years of hunting on Mt. Gassan have come to an end.

Recently, Matsubara received an unexpected request.

A girl called me up saying that she
wants to learn to hunt with raptors.

Where is she?

She's supposed to be at the traffic circle.

The call to Matsubara came from a high school student living near Tokyo.

Welcome.

Her name is So Moemi.

-This is your first time out here?
-That's right.

Did you watch the soccer match?

I had a test yesterday, so I was stuck studying.

Moemi came all this way with the wish to study under Matsubara, as his disciple.

Attention, bow.

I was around four when I realized
that I like animals.

When I saw someone walking their dog,
it looked so adorable to me.

-I'm home.
-Welcome back.

Moemi is the middle child among five siblings.

She first glimpsed a falconer on a television program she saw while in elementary school.

I wished that I could have a job like that.

After entering high school, she found out about Matsubara, and implored him to teach her.

I called him up a bunch of times.

Matsubara was impressed by Moemi's enthusiasm.

He agreed to spend two days gauging her potential.

Give this to the Harris's hawk in there.

Hide it away so that he doesn't spot it.

They begin by practicing feeding.

In addition to Kabugo, Matsubara keeps 5 other birds.

She hides away as she eats, because she
doesn't like being watched.

In preparation for the winter hunt, another bird has begun training in Kabugo's place.

She's inexperienced, so she pecks a little.

Hold on. She's hungry and agitated.

The cord is short. Take care to wrap it
around your little finger.

Even if she tries to fly, don't let go.

Ouch.

She'll peck at you.

Next use your little finger to carefully
hold the cord firm.

Even if she flaps, don't let go of it.

Let your arm shift up and down.

Move up and down, so that
she plants her left leg.

Moemi shows confidence, as she calms the nervous hawk.

Next, she'll learn to walk outside with the bird on her arm.

When her stool is whitish, she has plenty of strength.

As the bird practices fasting

the white turns yellowish, and then green.

Green is a sign of fasting a little too much.

As it is, she'll be too strong, so we need
to build her hunger.

Once she's calmed down, try touching her chest.

Slowly get closer and stroke the feathers there.

When she gets to know you, you'll be able to
put your hand beneath the feathers.

Then you can check her muscle level.

These are the chicken's intestines?

The long parts are. We pull them out.

For the past two days, Moemi has focused intently on learning as much as she can from Matsubara.

You can get a good view of Mt. Gassan.

There's a glimpse of it there in the shadow.

She gave the impression of being pure and focused.

I got the sense that I could pass on
all that I know to her.

There you are.

Moemi returns again one month later, during the year-end break.

She has prepared for training in the heart of winter.

First, take a look at the front and back.

This is her first experience donning traditional snowshoes to traverse the icy ground.

To practice calling the bird back from a distance, she attempts to move it to the branch of a tree...

She won't get on there?

She isn't moving.

Try pressing your arm along the branch.

This here is the heart.

Try calling to her.

She ought to come. Try a little more.

She must be tangled up?

Hold on, there.

You can't get back up.

That's the way.

We should get her talons loose first.

I wonder why she got stuck.

Learning the basics is even harder than it looks.

When a bird will finally sleep on its master's arm, it displays its trust.

A successful landing.

Next, they'll attempt to catch live prey.

Let her get down closer to the chicken.

Then we see how she reacts.

They'll show the bird a chicken at a distance of 30 meters.

She isn't reacting.

When I give the OK from above, throw the chicken.

Hawks react most strongly to moving prey.

OK!

There we go.

Whether it's moving or not makes a big difference.

We let the taste of the prey make an impression.

She needs to realize the flavor of fresh meat and blood.

That's important early on.

As Moemi witnesses the exchange of life that occurs within nature, she realizes just how harsh this way of life would be.

When would you start?

-I'd move after graduating from high school.
-Right after?

I'm concerned.

I know.

Very worried.

You'd be moving away to live in an
unforgiving environment.

As your parents, we'd be worried whether
you can really get by out there.

-Will you be all right?
-Just wait and see.

They say that if you love your kids, you should
send them out into the world, right?

I think they're a little overprotective.

It's a big one, but calm enough.

To complete the bird's training, Matsubara will offer up a rabbit that's been raised as livestock.

He has carried on this uncompromising lifestyle for half a century.

Thanks to that dedication, the tradition survived the long years.

She took it down in one strike.

Pressed its head down.

Hello?

Hello, it's So Moemi.

Good evening.

I have a break the day after tomorrow,
so I'd like to go to Mt. Gassan for two days.

Mt. Gassan?

Well, we'd need to be very well equipped.

But as long as the weather permits,
it should be fine.

That's great.

I'll give it my best.

In March, Matsubara and Moemi climb Mt. Gassan.

Since days long past, this mountain has beckoned to many falconers and their birds.

It looks climbable.

Let's put on our snowshoes.

Their equipment consists of snowshoes, and fur to ward off the cold.

They carry hunting knives and boxes of feed for the hawk.

This attire has remained constant over the centuries.

Just the sound of snowshoes will drive away rabbits.

We should be as quiet as possible.

Mt. Gassan stands at an elevation of nearly 2,000 meters.

They'll attempt to hunt in a beech tree grove, partway up the mountain.

Today, the fruits of their labor will be tested.

They'll seek out wild rabbits.

It seems like she's looking, too.

Rabbits tend to hide at the roots of
diagonal trees like this.

These tracks were made in the evening.

They're quite fresh.

There are rabbit pellets, too.

There are some rabbits here,
but they aren't easy to find.

During the daytime, wild rabbits remain nestled in their burrows, but a traditional method exists for capturing them.

I'll come up from below the thicket and
try to drive it out.

You stand somewhere uphill with a good view
and wait for it.

There's at least a chance that it'll
make a run for it.

They split up to attempt a pincer maneuver.

I guess nothing came out.

After walking in the snowy mountains for eight hours,

despite their trek, they find no opportunity for hunting.

I'll try to dig out a little snow cave.

This hole dug into the snow will be their lodgings for the night.

More than I expected.

Almost got it.

-Did you get hurt?
-I'm fine.

Come here.

I'll let you get warm by the fire.

After half a century, this life among the birds is the only one Matsubara knows.

Have you ever thought about quitting as a falconer?

From training with the birds, to enduring nature
and being covered in snow

I've faced a lot of challenges.

But not once did I think of quitting.

I must love being a falconer so much
that I'd never want to leave it.

If I'd only thought about satisfaction or gain
from hunting

I probably couldn't have done it.

This is my way of life.

My dream.

I feel like it's my everything.

The time comes for Moemi to return, ending her first hunting season.

Two weeks later, Matsubara and his hawk are back on the mountain.

They're undertaking the last challenge of the season.

The fierce wind and snow chip away at the stamina of man and bird alike.

Will she land on the branch?

Matsubara gives the hawk a short rest.

He prepares to call the bird back for food.

I'm fine.

She came before I called.

Take care when you dislodge her talons.

She's very strong.

It looks like I'm bleeding?

-Your ear.
-Oh, really?

This is a common thing.

She gets very eager for food while hunting.

It's no big deal.

The more you do this, you see things
like the difficulty of training.

You bear the brunt of nature,
and understand that hardship.

I've been pushed to the brink before.

It's happened plenty of times.

But I held my desire to live among the hawks.

That's gotten me through thick and thin.

She followed something.

What was it?

A rabbit!

A rabbit!

It got away.

She tracked it this far.

But it escaped us here.

The rabbit tracks pressed into the snow lead deep into the forest.

Come here.

All right.

Flying after a rabbit is progress.

We'll work hard again next year.

I'll have time during summer break this year.

I'd like to visit and do things like
climbing Mt. Gassan again.

I'll be looking forward to it.

Meeting Moemi was like seeing
a lone seed carried down on the wind.

I may not live long enough to see it
bloom into a flower.

But I think I can teach what it needs to grow.