Yabusame, Traditional Mounted Archery

These are threee photos of Yabusame, which is a type of traditional mounted archery in Japan. I photographed them on Kumamoto Castle Festival day. That day, there were ten archers dressed in traditional samurai warrior clothes. They competed with each other by shooting nine arrows in total at three targets from a running horse, while controlling their horse with their knees and galloping down a track at high speed. Yabusame is not a sport but a ritual which is often performed for special events. The point of an arrow is blunt and round-shaped in order to make a louder sound when it strikes the target. I was reminded of my university days when I practiced Japanese archery and took part in many archery competitions.