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Yabusame
is a type of mounted archery in traditional Japanese archery. An archer on a running horse shoots three special "turnip-headed" arrows successively at three wooden targets. This style of archery has its origins at the beginning of the Kamakura period. Minamoto no Yoritomo became alarmed at the lack of archery skills his samurai possessed. He organized yabusame as a form of practice. 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). It is also performed in Samukawa and on the beach at Zushi, as well as other locations. History Japanese bows date back to prehistoric times – the Jōmon period. The long, unique asymmetrical bow style with the grip below the center emerged under the Yayoi culture (300 BC – 300 AD). Bows became the symbol of authority and power. The legendary first emperor of Japan, Emperor Jimmu, is always depicted carrying a bow. Some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yabusame 02
is a type of mounted archery in traditional Japanese archery. An archer on a running horse shoots three special "turnip-headed" arrows successively at three wooden targets. This style of archery has its origins at the beginning of the Kamakura period. Minamoto no Yoritomo became alarmed at the lack of archery skills his samurai possessed. He organized yabusame as a form of practice. 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). It is also performed in Samukawa and on the beach at Zushi, as well as other locations. History Japanese bows date back to prehistoric times – the Jōmon period. The long, unique asymmetrical bow style with the grip below the center emerged under the Yayoi culture (300 BC – 300 AD). Bows became the symbol of authority and power. The legendary first emperor of Japan, Emperor Jimmu, is always depicted carrying a bow. Some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mounted Archery
Mounted archery is a form of archery that involves shooting arrows while on horseback. A horse archer is a person who does mounted archery. Archery has occasionally been used from the backs of other riding animals. In large open areas, mounted archery was a highly successful technique for hunting, for protecting herds, and for war. It was a defining characteristic of the Eurasian nomads during antiquity and the medieval period, as well as the Iranian peoples such as the Alans, Sarmatians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Massagetae, Parthians, and Persians in Antiquity, and by the Hungarians, Mongols, Chinese, and Turkic peoples during the Middle Ages. The expansion of these cultures have had a great influence on other geographical regions including Eastern Europe, West Asia, and East Asia. In East Asia, horse archery came to be particularly honored in the samurai tradition of Japan, where horse archery is called Yabusame. The term mounted archer occurs in medieval English sources t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kyūdō
''Kyūdō'' () is the Japanese martial art of archery. Kyūdō is based on ''kyūjutsu'' ("art of archery"), which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan. In 1919, the name of kyūjutsu was officially changed to kyūdō, and following the example of other martial arts that have been systematizing for educational purposes, kyūdō also reorganized and integrated various forms of shooting that had been used up until then. Many practitioners may refer to themselves as ''yumihiki'' (弓引き), or 'ones who draw the bow'. Kyūdō is practised by over a hundred thousand people worldwide. The bow they use is called a . It has an asymmetrical shape and length of more than , and its use is characterized by the archer gripping the lower third of the bow stave to shoot. History The beginning of archery in Japan is pre-historical. The first images picturing the distinct Japanese asymmetrical longbow are found on Dōtaku from the Yayoi period (c. 500 BC – 300 AD). Emerge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aoi Matsuri
The , or "Hollyhock Festival", (although commonly, but mistakenly identified as "hollyhock", the "aoi" actually belongs to the birthwort family and translates as " wild ginger"—Asarum) is one of the three main annual festivals held in Kyoto, Japan, the other two being the Festival of the Ages (Jidai Matsuri) and the Gion Festival. It is a festival of the two Kamo shrines in the north of the city, Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine. The festival may also be referred to as the Kamo Festival. It is held on 15 May of each year. History According to the '' Nihon Shoki'', the festival originated during the reign of Emperor Kinmei (reigned CE 539 - 571). The ancient records known as the ''Honchō getsurei'' ( 本朝月令) and ''Nenchūgyōji hissho'' (年中行事秘抄) reveal that a succession of disastrous rains with high winds ruined the grain crops, and epidemics had spread through the country. Because diviners placed the cause on divine punishment by the Kamo deities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yumi
is the Japanese term for a bow. As used in English, refers more specifically to traditional Japanese asymmetrical bows, and includes the longer and the shorter used in the practice of and , or Japanese archery. The was an important weapon of the samurai warrior during the feudal period of Japan. It is typically shot with Japanese arrows known as . The most famous style of is an asymmetrically shaped long bow with a length of more than , characterized by the archer holding the part of the bow below the center to shoot the arrow. History Most of the excavated Jōmon period () bows are in length, while most of the Yayoi period () bows are in length. The bows in these periods were made from a single processed wood, and the bows with this structure were called and were used until the Nara period (710–794 CE). It is unknown when the asymmetrical came into use, but the first written record is found in the ''Book of Wei'', a Chinese historical manuscript dating to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inuoumono
was a Japanese sport that involved mounted archers shooting at dogs. The dogs were released into a circular enclosure approximately 15m across, and mounted archers would fire upon them whilst riding around the perimeter. Originally intended as a military training exercise, dog-shooting became popular as a sport among the Japanese nobility during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods (1185-1573). During this time it was briefly banned during the rule of Emperor Go-Daigo (owing to his concern for the dogs); however, this ruling was overturned by the shōgun Ashikaga Takauji at the behest of his archery teacher Ogasawara Sadamune. The influential Ogasawara family were particular adherents of inuoumono; Sadamune's archery treatise ''Inuoumono mikuanbumi'' regarded it as fundamental to a warrior's training, and his great-grandson Mochinaga devoted five books to the subject. The arrows used in dog-shooting were usually rendered non-fatal, by being either padded or blunted. This modifica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minamoto
was a noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility since 814."...the Minamoto (1192-1333)". ''Warrior Rule in Japan'', page 11. Cambridge University Press. Several noble lines were bestowed the surname, the most notable of which was the Seiwa Genji, whose descendants established the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates following the Heian era. The Minamoto was one of the four great clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period in Japanese history—the other three were the Fujiwara, the Taira, and the Tachibana. In the late Heian period, Minamoto rivalry with the Taira culminated in the Genpei War (1180–1185 AD). The Minamoto emerged victorious and established Japan's first shogunate in Kamakura under Minamoto no Yoritomo, who appointed himself as ''shōgun'' in 1192, ushering in the Kamakura period (1192–1333 AD) of Japanes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taira
The was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period of Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto, the Fujiwara, and the Tachibana. The clan is divided into four major groups, named after the emperors they descended from: Kanmu Heishi, Ninmyō Heishi, Montoku Heishi, and Kōkō Heishi, the most influential of which was the Kanmu Heishi line. In the twilight of the Heian period, the Taira controlled the boy emperor Antoku (himself the grandson of the powerful ''Kugyō'' Taira no Kiyomori) and had effectively dominated the Imperial capital of Heian. However, they were opposed by their rivals the Minamoto clan (the Genji), which culminated in the Genpei War (1180–1185 AD). The five-year-long war concluded with a decisive Taira defeat in the naval Battle of Dan-no-Ura, which resulted in the deaths of Antoku and Taira leaders. Following the war, the victorious Minamoto established Japan's first shogunate in Kamaku ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nasu No Yoichi
(c. 1169 – c. 1232) was a ''samurai'' who fought alongside the Minamoto clan in the Genpei War. He is particularly famous for his actions at the Battle of Yashima in 1185. According to the '' Heike Monogatari'', the enemy Taira placed a fan atop a pole on one of their ships, daring the Minamoto warriors to shoot it off. Sitting atop his mount in the waves, his target atop the ship rocking as well, Nasu nevertheless shot it down with only one shot. After the Genpei War, he was made ''shugo'' of Tottori Castle, but he lost this position to Kajiwara Kagetoki after being defeated in a hunting competition. He left Echigo Province and—following the death of Minamoto no Yoritomo—Nasu became a Buddhist monk in the Jōdo Shinshū sect. Eventually, he formed a temple, which has since been passed down to the oldest son of the Nasu family. For administrative purposes, detailed records were kept regarding who was to inherit the temple. As a result of this, it was possible to trace th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Yashima
Battle of Yashima (屋島の戦い) was one of the battles of the Genpei War on March 22, 1185, in the Heian period. It occurred in Sanuki Province (Shikoku), which is now Takamatsu, Kagawa. Background Following a long string of defeats, the Taira clan retreated to Yashima, today's Takamatsu, just off the coast of Shikoku. Here they had a fortress, and an improvised palace for Emperor Antoku and the imperial regalia, which they had taken earlier in the war. Battle On the 18th, a Minamoto force tried to cross the sea but many of the boats were damaged in a storm. Kajiwara Kagetoki then suggested adding "reverse oars" to the boats, which prompted an argument from Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Finally after the boats were repaired and despite the high winds, Yoshitsune departed with only five of the 200 boats carrying about 150 of his men. After arriving in Tsubaki Bay, in Awa Province, Yoshitsune advanced into Sanuki Province through the night reaching the bay with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
