A permanent hippodrome for yabusame horseback archery, in which an archer galloping on horseback shoots arrows at targets, will be set up in November in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, a city associated with the sport.
Yabusame hippodromes are typically set up on a temporary basis when the sport is held as part of a ritual at a shrine, thus making Kamakura's permanent yabusame hippodrome a rarity. It is aimed at increasing familiarity with this Japanese event for both people in Japan and overseas ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics next year, and will also provide opportunities for visitors to interact with horses.
The Kamakura-based Japan Equestrian Archery Association, the annual performers of yabusame at Meiji Jingu shrine in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, is calling for assistance from the public to construct the hippodrome. Construction work began in early October and is expected to be completed in mid-November.
According to the association, the venue is being built on about 1 hectare of city-owned land near Shonan Fukasawa Station on the Shonan Monorail. The hippodrome will be 220 meters long with sand 20 centimeters deep and three archery targets set at 60-meter intervals. Spectator space will also be included as well as a practice area 24 meters square. For the yabusame archers, lessons and lectures will be offered at the venue and visitors will have the options of attending workshops and taking photos with horses.
On Nov. 29, as part of the Japan Cultural Expo project, a festival coinciding with the Tokyo Games, yabusame will be held to pray for the Games' success.
To collect donations for its construction, the association launched a crowd-funding operation on Nov. 1 and scheduled it to run until Jan. 18. The association is aiming to collect 12 million yen of the 22 million yen in construction and expenses cost. Donations are set from a minimum of 5,000 yen to a maximum of 2.8 million yen. Depending on the amount they donate, donors can receive rewards such as their names being published on a website or being invited to a special yabusame event held at the new venue.
To further raise public awareness of yabusame, the association filmed the September yabusame at Samukawa-jinja shrine in Samukawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, and will also use 8K high-resolution technology to record the yabusame at Meiji Jingu shrine in November. The footage of the events is slated to be released on YouTube and other websites from late January.
Komo Okuyama, deputy chairman of the association, said: "Usually, a hippodrome is set up at a shrine on the occasion of yabusame events and there are only a few permanent facilities for this purpose. This is a groundbreaking project that will lead to the training of yabusame archers."
Kamakura Mayor Takashi Matsuo, said: "This is an opportunity for many people to get to know yabusame, which Kamakura is associated with. We hope it will become a base for passing on our important culture."
The origins of yabusame are said to date back to around 1,500 years ago in Usa, Oita Prefecture, when Emperor Kinmei had horse riders shoot arrows at three targets. Minamoto no Yoritomo, founder of the Kamakura shogunate in the Kamakura period (late 12th century to 1333), later promoted yabusame and it became known to the public.
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