Sunday, April 19--Giddyup

Imagine flying down a 255-meter track on the back of a galloping horse, holding on with nothing but your knees, trying to impress the gods by shooting an arrow into the heart of each of three targets spaced 70 meters apart along the path. It is as dangerous and as impressive as it sounds, and I spent three hours watching this annual display of horseback archery, or yabusame, today.

Yabusame is a ceremony, not a sport, which was first performed for the shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1187. It was developed as a way for samurai warriors to practice the skills needed both for hunting and for engaging the enemy, but it was also hoped that the demonstration of skill and concentration would please the gods, therefore encouraging their blessings for prosperity. Today, there are only two schools that train archers to perform yabusame, and a minimum of five years of training is required before an archer is invited to participate in a ceremony. As times change, and it becomes more difficult to interest new generations in preserving the traditions of the past, women who wish to learn yabusame are now accepted into the formerly male-only training program.

When I arrived at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura this afternoon, the archers were just beginning their warm up rides. Unfortunately, the practice runs did not go well for two riders, whose horses bucked them off near the first target. Even though an ambulance did arrive to take the second rider to the hospital, neither one appeared seriously injured. After the practice runs, horses and riders alike went “behind the scenes” to change into their formal costumes. The horses emerged wearing colorful tassels, and the men were attired in Edo Period hunting garb, featuring deer-hide chaps, lacquered caps of woven bamboo (the curled-up style of which influenced the future design of cowboy hats), and one-armed jackets bearing a gold-embroidered mon, or family crest.

The starter used a huge fan to signal when the course was ready for each rider. The archer urged his horse to a full gallop and fired off three blunt-tipped arrows in quick succession, finishing the run in about fifteen seconds. If he hit a target, a white flag was waved, and the crowd applauded in appreciation. Once all of the riders had completed the run, they returned solemnly in a single-file procession to the start, retrieving their arrows with a bow at each target. Targets were changed throughout the ceremony, from a colorful paper bulls-eye, to a square wooden plank, to a small piece of clay shaped like a bowl. The rides were repeated over the course of about an hour, and I expected the best archer’s efforts to be celebrated at the end of the ceremony, but I never did hear a winner declared.

There will be another display of horseback archery on the beach in Zushi at the beginning of November, and I learned a few things today that will hopefully help me get better photos then. First, a front-row seat near the starting line means you have to stay seated the entire time so as not to block the view of those seated behind you—which ensures that the ropes marking the course bisect each and every photo. Being near the starting line means you get some great still shots as the riders prepare to launch, but action shots are pretty much limited to the horse’s rump as the rider aims at the first target. Forget having any view whatsoever of the second or third targets, since you can’t stand up. The police keep a vigilant eye on the crowd, to prevent flash photography or standing—as a result, they are prominent features in the foreground of my otherwise appealing photos. So, next time I am prepared to arrive early to secure a good spot around the center of the course, to spend several hours standing near the back of the crowd (being tall means I can shoot photos over the heads of most Japanese), and to evade the police as much as possible. Check back in November to see if my plan works.