This festival takes place every year in Tsuwano, which is a town in Shimane district about an hour and a half from Kudamatsu. There is a great deal of ceremony and beautiful traditional clothing. But the real show is the archery. There is a long narrow stretch of grass about 300 meters long. Within that stretch there is a lane of sand that is roped off - the lane is only about five feet wide . There are three targets set up at the beginning, middle and end of the run and these horseback archers gallop down this strip and try to hit all three targets. It is absolutely incredible. Brett, Shoko, and I were watching right near the middle target, so we couldn't see the beginning very well (lots of spectators) but it was a thrill to hear the horse thundering into view and blasting past. One archer - who was a junior highschool girl! - was especially impressive as she let out a long yell as she was coming up on the target: "yyyyeeeeeeeaaaaaAAAHHHHHHHHHAAA *CRACK as she hits the target* AAAeeee.....".
If you've ever ridden a horse, or practiced kyuudo (Japanese archery) (as Brett and Shoko do) you might appreciate how insanely difficult it is to combine the the two.
Setting up the target.
Above is the top archer of this festival. His name, to my neverending joy, is Ogasawara Ryo. Ogasawara. Ogasawara. And he was the only person to hit all three targets - I was so proud. He was on a JET calender last year and Shoko cut out the picture and has it posted on her wall. "That's my man! He's sooo hot!".
This is one of the archers preparing for battle. Please note the length of the bow. It is enormous...probably about as tall as the shooter.
There is Ogasawara. Perfect form. Perfect name.
1 comment:
Update, you fool! Those of us sitting at home in boring old Canada are craving your stories of adventure.
Post a Comment