Yabusame, or Japanese horse-back archery, is one of the traditional
military arts, but it is not actually martial in nature. It is looked upon
as a warrior's form of prayer or religious ritual. It is usually performed
in the Shinto shrine precincts by mounted archers who shoot at three stationary
targets while riding their steeds at full gallop. It may be performed as
a demonstration during the festivals of some Shinto shrines.
According to ancient records, the first performance of yabusame is
as having been in the year 1096 in the presence of Emperor Shirakawa.
The archer shot an arrow from horseback at a target while he was riding.
This event is recorded in a Shinji, a Shinto ceremony denoting the spiritual and
conceptual origin of something.
Now, there are two main methods of Yabusame: the Takeda School and the
Ogasawara School. There is a little difference between them in costume
and in their way of shooting.
In Kyudo there are two ways of shooting: standing and kneeling. Yabusame is
similar to the kneeling style. The purpose of Yabusame is to shoot a Kaburaya
(a turnip-head arrow, which is solid; Not to be confused with a humming-bulb arrow)
from a running horse. Riding and shooting practice are conducted in several ways,
such as:standard equestrian archery (Kisha), trying to break a clay dish (Kawarake wari),
and shooting at dogs (Inuoumono). These were typical examples of yabusame,
though Inuoumono is no longer practiced.
Takeda Ryu begins with a solemn Shinto ceremony called the Tencyo-chikyu-Shiki,
in which various prayers are offered: Tenka Tai Hei (a prayer for world
peace), Gokoku Hojyo (a harvest prayer for the five grains in advance),
and Banmin Sokusai (a prayer for the safety and health of all mankind).
There are some local festivals in some areas today that offer prayers for
a good harvest in conjunction with a yabusame display. True yabusame,
as a form of Budo (martial way), is descended from Prince Sadazumi, a son
of the Emperor Seiwa. This line ran through seven generation of the Genji
(Minamoto) clan. Later the line split into seperate branches: the Takeda Ryu
and the Ogasawara Ryu.
The last direct Takeda descendant was Takeda Nobunao. He was succeeded by
Hosokawa Fuji-taka, a close relative. Fujitaka was followed by Tadaoki and Tadatoshi.
The latter became Lord of Higo (Kumamoto). His duties required him to devote
his full attention to the management of local government affairs, in addition to
the Edo residence requirements of the Shogun, which required all fuedal lords to live
in Edo on a rotating basis (Sankin-Kotai).
Tada-toshi thus transmitted to his trusted retainer 'Takehara Koreshige' the documents
of the Ryuha branch genealogy, the official seal, the initiation books of the Takeda-Ryu
and a Goseimon, a letter of authority designating Takehara as the head of the Takeda Ryu.
The Takehara family has served as Soke ( titular head) of the branch ever since.
We, the followers of the Takeda School, shoot
at three square targets braided of split bamboo, with five-color circled
paper pasted on, while the Ogasawara School use square targets.
It is said that any mounted
archer who missed his target was obliged to com-mit suicide, what we call
'seppuku' or 'harakiri.' Later on, by attaching some seasonal flowers on
the fringe of each target, we have been preserving our school of yabusame
so that it does not fade out.
In the 11th year of Meiji, Takehara Koremichi, then Soke, affiliated the
Ryuha with the lzumi Shrine located in Suizenji park. Each spring and fall
since then has been celebrated by a yabusame demonstration at the park.
Takehara Masafumi, during the 36th year of Showa, was designated by Kumamoto
Prefecture as a living cultural treasure in recognition of his knowledge
and skill in the art of yabusame.
In the 46th year of Showa, Masafumi passed away. His son Takehara Yojiro became the 44th
in the line of masters of Takeda-Ryu school. He became instrumental in founding
a 'preservation society' to insure the continued existence and growth of
the Takeda-Ryu school. Under him, in the 50th year of Showa, the yabusame of Takeda Ryu school
was recongnized by Kumamoto Prefecture as an intangible cultural treasure again.
The traditional yabusame of Takeda-Ryu school continues to be performed regularly
in Kumamoto as a part of cultural activities related to the lzumi shrine
in Suizenji park, the Osiro Matsuri festival in front of the long wall of Kumamoto
Castle, horsemanship and kyudo events, part of kobudo (old martial ways)
events, etc.
In the 4th year of Reiwa, Youjirou passed away. His son Takehara Kouta turned to be the 45th in the line of masters of Takeda-Ryu school until now.
The members of the society for the preservation of yabusame try to demonstrate
the traditional skills and techniques of Takeda-Ryu yabusame.
Their goal is to preserve and disseminate true Yabusame.
by the 45th Grand Master Takehara Kouta
〒862-0971
熊本市中央区大江１丁目28-32
TEL 090-8837-3223