YABUSAME, an old Jap. archery contest
involving shooting at 3 targets while riding a horse.
Competitors use a special bow that is over 2m high and
characteristic whistling arrows - kaburaya. They wear
trad. Jap. costumes with some elements of ancient military
uniforms. Yabusame was originally associated with a special
religious ceremony. The ritual was, however, a secret
one and that is why it was never described or depicted.
The oldest mentions of yabusame date back to the 14th
cent. Today, the sport has a number of var. the most popular
of which is called takeda. The run-up track for the horses
is 218m long. This distance was determined centuries ago
when competitors rode the relatively slow Jap. horses.
It is often extended nowadays as the riders prefer horses
of Eur. or Arab descent which pass the targets at a higher
speed. This makes it impossible for the archer to draw
the bow and aim 3 times within a very short period of
time. The 3 targets are placed along the track. They are
54cm2 boards made of Jap. cypress. They are covered with
a sheet of paper marked with concentric circles in 5 colors.
Additionally, a bunch of flowers is placed behind each
target. The object of the game is to hit either the target
or the flowers. The competition is accompanied by an elaborate
ritual. The contest is supervised by a senior umpire,
starting line umpire, target umpire (scorer), and a special
official responsible for handing out 'sacred gifts' for
the most esthetically pleasing attempts. In contrast to
other Jap. var. of horseback archery such as >INUOMONO,
>KADAGAKE, yabusame contests lack the competitive aspect
and are held mainly as displays of agility and have an
aesthetic character. Other officials assisting the contestants
include an arrow collector, flag bearer and a drummer
setting the pace during a competitor's approach to the
targets. The sport is governed by the Jap. Equestrian
Archery Association with its official seat in Kamakura.
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See other var. of Jap. archery on foot: >BUSHA, >JUMIHAJIME,
>KUSAJISI, >MARUMONO, and >MOMOTE, as well as
ceremonial archery var. such as >JYARAI, >IBAHAJIME,
>NORIYUMI and >TANGONO KISHA.
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W.R.B. Acker, Japanese Archery, 1965; E. Herrigel, Zen
in der Kunst des Bogenschiessens, 1948; A. Sollier &
Z. Gyobiro, Japanese Archery. Zen in Action, 1969. |
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