Samurai MIKI

Yabuseme-mounted archery-/流鏑馬

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Pocket

Have you heard of Yabusame or mounted archery?
It is a kind of archery while riding a horse.
It has been conducted as Shinto ritual since the old days.


According to the Takeda school, the origin of Yabusame was when the 29th Emperor Kinmei’s period around the middle of 6th century. 
He enshrined the 15th Emperor Oujin and his mother Empress Jingu who were known as the deities of war in the Usa shrine. 
Also, he prayed for the peaceful and tranquil country under the deities’ protection and the good grain harvest by offering the ceremony with three arrows throwing to the three targets on horseback.


During the Samurai period between the late 12th century and the late 19th century, mounted archery was practiced as samurais’ training as well as Shinto ritual.
Today, mounted archery has been conducted as Shinto ritual, while it started as new sports in 2002.


I experienced the sport “Yabusame” at CANADIAN CAMP RIDING CLUB- Kyushu.
There is a trial course for beginners.
First, we practice an archery on the ground.
Second, we ride a horse without bow and arrows to get used to it.
We need to wait for about half an hour before the staff prepare the horse with gears.
Third, we do Yabusame in a short track.

Don’t worry about it. 
Since the horses are professionals and they know what to do, we will be able to focus on shooting arrows.
How about trying Sport Yabusame as one of your once in a lifetime experiences?

【Translation for language learners of either English or Japanese】/英語・日本語学習者向け翻訳 えいご ・  にほんごがくしゅうしゃむ  ほんやく


流鏑馬って聞いたことありますか。
馬に乗りながらする弓術のようなものです。
昔から神道の儀式として行われてきました。

武田流によると、流鏑馬の起源は、6世紀中頃の第29代欽明天皇の時代です。
欽明天皇は、武神として知られている第15代応神天皇と神功皇后を宇佐神宮にお祀りしました。
また、馬上から三つの的を射る儀式を奉納することで、天下泰平・五穀豊穣を祈願されました。


12世紀後半から19世紀後半の武士の世の中では、騎射は、武士の稽古並びに神道の儀式として行われていました。
今日では、流鏑馬は神道の儀式として行われている一方で、2002年からはスポーツとしても始まりました。


CANADIAN CAMP RIDING CLUB九州でスポーツ流鏑馬を体験しました。
初心者向けの体験コースがあります。
初めに、地上で弓の練習をします。
第二に、馬に慣れるために、弓も矢も持たないで馬に乗ります。
馬に馬具を装着して準備が整うまで、30分くらい待つ必要があります。
第三に、ショートトラックで、流鏑馬をします。

心配は不要です。
馬は熟練しており、何をすべきか分かっているので、矢を引くことに集中する事ができるでしょう。
一生に一回の経験の一つとしてスポーツ流鏑馬を試してみませんか。

Pocket

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Miki

Good day, I am the founder of Aurora Trip Nippon. Also, I am a Certified National Guide, Certified Tour Conductor, Certified General Travel Service Supervisor, as well as a Kimono Consultant.
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  1. AvatarAnonymous says:

    You’re right. This is an amazing blog post. I especially liked the video. It looks difficult.

    By the way, what happens if one of the targets wasn’t hit by the arrow during the ceremony?

    +1
  2. MikiMiki says:

    Thank you so much for your compliment!

    That’s the great question.
    Believe it or not, the archer did harakiri when the target was not hit by the arrow in the old days!
    Hence, it was said that the lords ordered them not to die.

    Here is the monument to console the spirits of people who did harakiri in the old days because they fell from a horse during the ceremony of mounted archery.
    Don’t worry about it. This practice has not been conducted anymore.

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