Profile of
Misako Ishimura

Misako Ishimura was bone in Osaka Japan. She is interested in nature, music, and dancing from her childhood. She studied Japanese traditional dance since she was four years old and obtained the title of Wakayagi Kichiichyu in classical Japanese dance in 1969. She performed classical Japan dance internationally till year of 2000. She fished in the mountain streams and in the ocean, and practiced riding houses in Japan.

In 1977, her love of music led her move to New York. Then Misako closely listens to live music in Manhattan and becomes a special audience. She was invited to many live music performances, including studio and live recordings in the clubs and the concert halls.

Misako caught beautiful brook trout in the beautiful small stream in Vermont. Since then, fly fishing took over her. Being a keen listener and a great observer, she becomes a part of nature while she is fly fishing. Believing in the spiritual benefit derived from activities concerning Nature, Misako Ishimura is a fly fisher who participates in organizations whose goals reflect her own regard for the environment and for community.

She was a Director of Theodore Gordon Fly Fishers (TGF) from 1998 to 2003 and a supporter of the TGF Trout in the Classroom (TIC), Wild Trout Conservation and Project Access. Ms. Ishimura's interest in the streams of the Catskills, where she fishes, participates in TGF hands-on conservation activities including stream bank restorations and planting, and organizes TIC Environmental Study Weekends, underlines her commitment to the environment and to its conservation.

 Misako Ishimura was an angler of Fly Fishing Team Japan at the 17th Annual FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championships and Conservation Symposiums in Wyoming in the USA in1997 and fish amoung 115 anglers from the world.  Two years later, Misako founded World Fly Fishing of Japan (WFFJ) and WFFJ became a member of FIPS-Mouche.  She is Chair, and  President of World Fly Fishing of Japan (WFFJ), which is a federation in Japan for CIPS FIPS-Mcouche, and the members are located in Japan, in the USA, and in Europe . WFFJ is an affiliated to Federation of Fly Fishers and promoting the sport of fly fishing to Japanese community.

As a captain of Fly Fishing Team Japan for FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship, she fishes in England 2000, France 2002, Spain 2003, Slovakia 2004, Sweden 2005, Portugal 2006, Finland 2007, New Zealand 2008 and Scotland 2009. During the World Fly Fishing Championship in Slovakia, 2004, she was honored as the First Woman Angler. Now she is leading Fly Fishing Team Japan for FIPS Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship 2010 in June in Poland.

She was a Director of International Women Fly Fishers (IWFF) from its start and was a Chair of the IWFF/Club Liaison Committee (CLC) from 1998 to 2001. Now she is serving as IWFF/CLC Goodwill ambassador. 

Misako Ishimura teaches fly fishing, fly casting and fly tying. She completed the Joan Wulff fly fishing casting instructors' course in 1998. She won the accuracy fly casting in 1998. She was invited to Fly Fishing Festa in Yokohama, Japan in 2002 and she thought more than 40 women anglers with Joan Wulff.  She is a Federation Fly Fishers (FFF) certified casting instructor and demonstrate fly casting and fly tying in the fly fishing shows internationally.  She studied Czech Nymphing from Jiri Klima in 2006. She is also demonstrating her fly tying skills, teaching fly casting and Czech Nymphinng during the clubs, such as FFF, WFFJ, IWFF events including Casting for recovery retreats.   

Ms. Ishimura is currently serving as a Collections Coordinator for the exhibition called "Made in Japan" at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum. She contributed to introducing Tenkara, which is Japanese traditional fly fishing to the USA in 2009.

She also enjoys drawing and writing poetry and has contributed articles and art works to the many fly fishing clubs newsletters.  Misako's chapter about Willowemoc Creek is included in A Woman's No Nonsense Guide to Fly Fishing Favorite Waters. Some of the proceeds from the sale of this book go to Casting for Recovery, a non-profit organization that assists women recovering from breast cancer. Her flies are shown in a couple fly tying books.  Her drawings were presented at the Wild Wood Gallery in 2002 and 2003 and at the group show in Osaka in 2007, 2008 and 2009.  Her drawings are seen in the book, called Sakanahennohitotachi Sakuhinsyu, which was published in 2009.

She was given the Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of significant contribution to furthering relationship with the international clubs and organizations by Japan Fly Fishers, the major non-profit club in Japan, in 2003. Exemplifying her belief that women and all generations' fly fishers and their organizations are enriched and strengthened by reaching out to others across the globe, She has been listed as one of Adventure Women in the world.  Misako Ishimura could well be considered an international ambassador of the fly fishing world.