Lovely Kamakura!

 

 

KAMAKURA

 

Kamakura is a very well known area south of Tokyo where the land meets the sea. It is known for being quite pretty but more so for having some lovely and popular Shrines and Temples. I signed up to go with a group of expats on a walking/trekking trip and the big highlight was that in the afternoon we would be going to a large Shrine to see a Yabusame event.

 

Yabusame is a traditional Japanese sport of riding horses and shooting arrows at targets.  I will include a video at the bottom of this post because I had a pretty limited view when I went and it was hard to see everything. There is a video on my fb page if you want to check that out.

 

So our first stop was Kenchoji which is a Zen Temple. It is the oldest training monestary in Japan. It was quite nice and peaceful. One of the buildings has a large dragon painted on the ceiling  

 

 

Next we started walking and hiking to a place called Zeniarai Benten. This was an uphill but easy hike through the woods and it was a bit hidden. This small shrine has a small cave with water where you can wash your coins and legend is that if you wash them in the water, you will double your wealth.  This small shrine was quite lovely.

 

Quick picnic lunch before continuing on. :)

 

Next we hiked for awhile before arriving at the Great Buddah of Kamakura. This is why people come to Kamakura. The statue is of bronze and extremely grand. We walked around for a short time and you could even pay a few cents to go inside the statue but it was uneventful and all you got to see was how hallow it is.

 

Next we headed over to what I think is Genjiyama Park. It was really pretty with flowers, and traditional Japanese gardens. I bought a small book there that you can take to all the shrines and temples and people will write and stamp them. Many people do this to collect the stamps from all the shrines and temples they visit in Japan. I should have bought a book earlier in the day but I am sure I will go to Kamakura again at some point so no worries.

 

Finally we headed over to the festival. We got there a bit later than we had planned and it was crowded. It was a bit difficult to see mostly because there were trees and shrubs on both sides of the path that the horses and archers came down so the only place for spectators was in the middle.

 

So there was a woman who would do some announcing and then everyone would get quiet. Then there would be the signal sound for the horse to go. It would pass by quite quickly and then just ahead the archer would fire the arrow at the target. There were 3 rounds. The first had a usual bullseye target, the second was a wooden piece, and the third was a small circular target. There were judges seated right next to the targets. After all the competitors were done, they would head back to the other end of the track to begin the next round.

 

Here is the Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yabusame

 

 

The track

 

 

Riders returning after a round of shooting the target 

 

Here are some shots of the riders as they ride toward the target. It was really hard to get a good shot.

 

If you look on the right side you can see two of the judges sitting. Right next to them is the target area. 

Here is the first target located in the lower right hand corner. I promise I tried to take good photos but it really was quite difficult with the crowd and the trees.

 

So this one takes a bit of examination but you can see the judges behind the tree and then the target to the right. I tried to catch the entire view but wasn't very successful.

 

At the end the targets were collected and all the riders, judges, and others (I have no idea what everyone's exact roles were) gathered together for the winners ceremony. This was all very orderly. They eventually all lined up in a particular order and walked to a small open shrine building where the actual ceremony took place. The winner was presented and then he did something with a fan and a special tea or drink was made also.  At the end, everyone lined up again and filed out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even though it was hard to see everything, this was a great thing to watch and experience. I definitely hope to see another tournament in the future and hopefully at a location that is a bit more open so I can see things a bit more clearly and close up. The riders all wore traditional Japanese costumes and they had deer hides for chaps and their bows were really big. Being able to control the bow, while reaching for an arrow and riding a really fast horse and then firing without hurting anyone does take talent and practice.