Yabusame
An archer on a running horse shoots three special "turnip-headed" arrows successively at three wooden targets.
Nowadays, the best places to see yabusame performed are at the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū in Kamakura and Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto (during Aoi Matsuri in early May).
The long, unique asymmetrical bow style with the grip below the center emerged under the Yayoi culture (300 BC – 300 AD).
As the Heike waited for the winds to be right, they presented a fan hung from a mast as a target for any Genji archer to shoot at in a gesture of chivalrous rivalry between enemies.
Yabusame was designed as a way to please and entertain the myriad of gods that watch over Japan, thus encouraging their blessings for the prosperity of the land, the people, and the harvest.
Yabusame is characterized as a ritual rather than a sport because of its solemn style and religious aspects, and is often performed for special ceremonies or official events, such as entertaining foreign dignitaries and heads of state.
Yabusame demonstrations have been given for the formal visits of US Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.
Zen became a major element in both foot and mounted archery as it also became popular among the samurai in every aspect of their life during the Kamakura period.
Zen taught breathing techniques to stabilize the mind and body, giving clarity and focus.
To be able to calmly draw one's bow, aim, and shoot in the heat of battle, and then repeat, was the mark of a true samurai who had mastered his training and his fear.
At the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, well-placed groups of musketeers serving Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa fired in volleys and practically annihilated the cavalry charges of the Takeda clan.
Mounted archery was revived in the Edo period (1600–1867) by Ogasawara Heibei Tsuneharu (1666–1747) under the command of the shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684–1751).
On the 2nd Sunday of April every year, there is a Yabusame ceremony held at the Washibara Hachiman-gū shrine in Tsuwano, Shimane.
