Birdcall Studio Experience

“Kyurkyuru,” “jigi,” “pichuchu”—the bird sounds Shogo produces with his birdcalls closely resemble real birdsong, and even Japanese great tits have answered them. He can imitate approximately ten different calls, with results remarkably similar to recordings by the Wild Bird Society of Japan.

Each birdcall he sells comes with a note asking customers not to use it for long periods in nesting areas. During the nesting season from early spring to early summer, parent birds may interpret an unfamiliar bird’s call as a threat and abandon their young.

Shogo knew little about birds when he first decided to sell birdcalls, but he researched their ecology before offering the product. His concern extends beyond making and selling objects to the natural environment and the birds themselves.

After studying furniture design at university, Shogo worked in the timber industry, in sales for a housing manufacturer, and as a factory manager for a stringed-instrument company.

He wanted to make things rather than work in sales or prepare technical drawings. Inspired by Seiji, the 15-year-old aspiring violin maker in the film Whisper of the Heart, he founded Matsunaga String Instrument Studio. The studio has since made more than 300 double basses and electric upright basses.

After approximately ten years as an instrument maker, Shogo was asked by an acquaintance to support community revitalization on Taketomi Island in Okinawa by creating something from local construction offcuts. He made egg-shaped birdcalls, which became popular. The studio later began making birdcalls from offcuts generated during instrument production. They were well received at their first craft fair and became one of the studio’s signature products.