Most Olympians have to be singularly focused on a specific goal in their pursuit of excellence, but Naoko Ishihara's life outside the sporting realm gives her perspective available to few others.
The 45-year-old shooter, who has all but booked her spot at this year's Tokyo Games, has chosen a career path that allows her to chase both spiritual and athletic nirvana, yet her life as a Shinto priest is one that appears incongruent with her Olympic aspirations.
When she is not at a shooting range with a shotgun in hand, Ishihara maintains an altogether much more serene life in which she tends to gardens, repairs architecture, shovels snow and ensures she meets all the responsibilities of a gonnegi junior priest.