Thank you for your joining our tour today.We welcomed 8 guests from many foreign countries, such as CANADA, COLUMBIA, BELGIUM, MALAYSIA. Today in Tokyo the weather was moderate, so 8 guests could enjoy this walking tour.
Here in the Meiji shrine seasonal special events such as 7.5.3 event, chrysanthemum show, flower arrangement show, ancient martial arts events, finished. Now in the Meiji shrine quiet atmosphere returned．
By the way I want to review autumn events this year.
In this autumn events I want to focus on ‘yabusame.’
I introduce you yabusame, an archery on horseback performance. This is a courageous performance. A player on horseback aims at 3 targets lined in a row by shooting the bow and arrows from a horse running at the top speed. The target is square wooden board, size is 50 cms. Targets are placed on the left hand side of running direction.
“Wow! A horse is running so fast. An archer hit the target. Great! I was so impressed with the combination of the high skill between an archer and a horse.”
Yabusame started in Heian period and it became popular in Kamakura period as samurai worriers’ military exercise. This culture has been succeeded by private organizations. And sometimes they visit foreign countries to show this performance in response to their requests. We must succeed and cherish those traditional cultures in the future. Please join our tour and enjoy together.
(posted by M.Sato.)