A famous event in Japanese history is the Gempei war between two clans, the Minamoto and the Taira, in the 1180s. There is a long book called Heike Monogatari (The Tale of the Heike) which tells the exploits of the victorious clan. One short chapter is about Nasu no Yoichi, who came from Tochigi Prefecture (where I live). He was asked to shoot an arrow at a fan held aloft on an enemy boat quite some distance away from shore. Yoichi wasn't sure he could accomplish the feat and said he would have committed suicide for shame if he missed. He mounted his horse and rode into the water to shorten the distance, and fired his arrow with success. Even the enemy soldiers applauded.
The Yoichi Festival was held in Otawara on 5th and 6th August this year.
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Ohhhh! Is this shot took in KYOTO? I was living in around Tokyo so i couldnt see like this festival even i am japanese...lol
Nice shot! I can feel emotion from this picture.....Great!
Great portrait but I don't think that 1885 AD samurai wore a glove when practicing archery.
That may be true for 1885AD as well as 1185AD. Kyudo (Japanese archery) is immensely difficult and more about the practice and state of mind of it than actually hitting the target. (I tried it once or twice a long time ago.) The thumb piece is actually made of metal covered in deerskin (or something similar).
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