The Samurai Archers of the Yabusame Tournament

 Today, I attended Asakusa's annual yabusame tournament!  As far as sport goes, Yabusame is pretty god damn difficult. Its practitioners are few, and it isn't quite what one could call a rising trend. But man, is it epic.

 For the uninitiated, Yabusame is traditional Japanese horseback archery. The practitioners must sit atop a horse, set the horse to a full gallop, and shoot at targets as they speed by. As you've probably guessed, it's a sport that requires extreme precision, not only because you're shooting while moving, but because holding a bow with two hands means you're letting go of the reins and sitting upright - and if you've ever ridden a horse, you might have a better idea of how incredibly difficult that is in and of itself.
  

Yabusame is rooted in centuries-old tradition, dating back to Japan's feudal era. It is considered to be a weapon-based martial art, meaning the philosophy behind the sport is just as important as technique. But contrary to most martial arts, where practitioners are often made to wear humble, loose-fitting clothes (which is even true of kyuudo, Japanese archery,) Yabusame practitioners are dressed in full traditional garm. The dress code reflects the fact that the original practitioners were noblemen. No detail is left out: asides from the fancy hat, some of the archers also ride with clothes of deer pelt, and all of them have a short sword attached to their hips. It's quite meticulous.
 Explanations aside, though, watching the tournament take place was quite gratifying.

Archers came in from different regions of Japan - even from the tiny Ogasawara islands, whose archers were reputed to be most accurate. Still pictures do no justice to the speed and precision of the archers, who load, aim, and shoot in the blink of an eye. The targets themselves were pretty close to the track which the horses ran along  - but whether this makes things easier or harder is questionable, too, and each archer had three shots to make on each run. All together, it was an impressive display. There was even an English-speaking commentator on spot, explaining the origins and rules of the sport.

 If anything, though, I regretted not having had access to a better spot. The annual tournament takes place alongside the Sumida River, and the places fill up quite rapidly. Had I known anything about how entertaining yabusame actually was, I might've gone through the trouble and paid the extra buck for reserving myself a spot. Standing along the fences, while costless, unfortunately makes it quite difficult to see the major part of the action, and I was glad I even managed to get the pictures I did.
 But my favorite thing about yabusame? The way the archers shout battle cries as they race by their targets. Talk about amazing.