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| Archery Festival, Nikko |
Whilst the Toshuga Shrine attracts plenty of visitors to Nikko throughout the year, we had come here specifically for the annual Shunki Reitaisai, or Grand Spring Festival. In particular, we were here for the first day's event, the Yabusame Archery Competition.
This competition dates right back to the Kamakura period, around the early 1200s, when the Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo became concerned that his Samurai were lacking in their horseback archery skills.
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| Archery Festival, Nikko |
He established this competition, where Samurai would have to ride their horses, at full gallop, up the hill towards the Shrine, and fire arrows at three targets along the way. It is said that if the Samurai didn't hit all three targets, they were expected to commit seppuku, or ritual suicide, which I guess is one way to make sure your men get their archery skills up.
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| Archery Festival, Nikko |
We loved this event. It was great to watch the preparation, with the ladies dancing, and the archers arriving in their samurai garb, but of course the best bit was watching them hurtle up the hill, firing as they went.
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| Archery Festival, Nikko |
I'm not sure that Minamoto no Yoritomo would be too impressed, as only a few manage to hot all three targets. thankfully these days, the only consequence of failure is disappointment - and a few sarcastic words from the commentator.
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| Archery Festival, Nikko |
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| Archery Festival, Nikko |
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| Archery Festival, Nikko |
We were very pleased that the commentator repeated everything in English, as it really helped us to make the most of the event. But he certainly wasn't very sympathetic to the archers. He was enthusiastic when they did well, but quite cutting when things weren't going so well.
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| Archery Festival, Nikko |
He was definitely not a fan of those riders who had chosen thoroughbred horses. His opinion was that, while those horses were faster, which helps with the fastest time, they aren't as strong uphill, and aren't as stable, making the precision of the aim much harder. Based on the results, he seemed to be right.
I especially amused us though to hear the highly unimpressed and dismissive tone in his voice when an archer missed, and he said 'he tried his best'.
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| Archery Festival, Nikko |
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| Archery Festival, Nikko |
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| 1000 Samurai, Nikko |
Although we were here for the archery day, it is worth sticking around for day two of the event too. This is the parade of 1000 samurai. The costumes these days are reproductions of course, but it is fun to see all of the guys parading past.
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| 1000 Samurai, Nikko |
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| 1000 Samurai, Nikko |
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| 1000 Samurai, Nikko |
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| 1000 Samurai, Nikko |
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| 1000 Samurai, Nikko |
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| 1000 Samurai, Nikko |
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| 1000 Samurai, Nikko |
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| 1000 Samurai, Nikko |
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| 1000 Samurai, Nikko |
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| 1000 Samurai, Nikko |
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