Hama Rikyu Gardens' falcons fly in 2023
Hama Rikyu Gardens’ falcons fly in 2023! They certainly did. On a cool January 2, I enjoyed photographing these marvelous birds. I had been waiting three years for this! It is one of the best Tokyo events. It didn’t start well, that is for sure. In the morning, I had an incident that nearly made my heart stop. Honestly, it was terrifying.
The falcons were to fly from 11 am. I got there at about 10 am. That allowed me to see the warming-up event, aikido. I don’t know much about martial arts, even though I’ve lived in Japan for about thirty years.
Still, I was more than happy because I got a seat. And that is when the trouble started. When I tried to photograph the aikidokas, the lens wouldn’t focus. That box on the screen wouldn’t turn green. I couldn’t believe it. No matter how many times I pressed the button, nothing happened.
My heart almost stopped. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. I took out the battery and put it back in. Still, nothing happened. Next was an attempt at using manual focus. It didn’t help. Then I noticed something.
On the screen, I saw the aperture was f0. What? How could it be 0? I had no idea. But it at least gave me a hint. It wasn’t a hint about what to do but how to solve it. I did an internet search for that problem. One idea was to take the lens off and reattach it. The electronic connectors between the lens and camera might be dirty. Why didn’t I think of that? Don’t answer that please.
I took the lens off, and guess what? It was more than dirty!! There was a tiny piece of paper ON the connector!!! What? I’m not joking.
A little piece of paper was inside my camera. Luckily, it was on the connector and hadn’t fallen into the sensor well. If that had happened, I might have had a disaster.
I carefully extracted it and reattached the lens. Everything worked just fine! A disaster was averted. My heart started beating again. I could enjoy watching the Hama Rikyu Gardens’ falcons fly!
How did the problem occur? I assume that it happened before I left home. A tiny piece of paper must have flown in just as I changed lenses. I can’t think of anything else.
The rest of the morning went very smoothly. Falcons are amazing. The birds are beautiful. They seem to be intelligent and constantly alert.
According to the show’s narrator, falcons mightn’t fly at a human’s command. They won’t if they are spooked or unsure. Before launch, they need to be sure.
As I said previously, Hama Rikyu Gardens hadn’t seen the falcons fly for three years! That was a long time. The pandemic had an impact. This event is so popular that cancellation was necessary because it draws big crowds.
If you didn’t know, the shoguns used to fly falcons in the park. They would hunt ducks with them in the pond. That doesn’t happen anymore, so it is great to see these old traditions being kept alive.
Is it easy photographing Hama Rikyu Gardens' falcons?
When the falcons are on their trainers’ arms it is easy. But in the air, it is a different story. Hama Rikyu Gardens has trees and buildings in the background. They make it hard to see the birds.
The other problem is I didn’t know when the falcons would take off. As they were far from me, I couldn’t see any signals from the trainers. The birds would suddenly fly.
Where did the falcons come from?
The Suwa Falconry Preservation Society (諏訪流放鷹術保存会) provided them. It develops the culture of falconry and trains both birds and falconers.
What photo gear did I use for this event?
As always, I used the Fujifilm X-T3 camera. It might have met its match here. I’ve used it many times to photograph birds in parks and open spaces. This environment had a cluttered background. There were so many buildings and trees. The autofocus seemed to struggle with that. I didn’t get one good photo of a flying bird.
For a lens, I used the Fujifilm 100-400 mm. It was a significant upgrade from the 55-200 mm which I used previously. The image quality is impressive.
Conclusion
Seeing Hama Rikyu Gardens’ falcons fly is always a great experience. It would be great to see them more often. I should check the internet for that information. Then I could go to more of their events.
If you are ever in Tokyo over the New Year period, you should drop by Hama Rikyu Gardens. The falcons actually appear four times over two days (i.e., January 2 and 3) at 11 am and 2 pm. It’s a great day of traditional Japanese culture.
Rohan Gillett
Rohan has lived in Tokyo for 30+ years. He loves photography and okonomiyaki. Rohan walks the city in his free time.
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External related websites:
- Hama Rikyu Gardens (official website)