Traditional Japanese Horseback Archery
The history of Japanese horseback archery dates back to the 4th century. It became popular in Japan, attracting crowds. The Emperor found that the crowds were not appropriate to the solemn and sacred nature of the occasion, and banned public displays in 698. Horseback archery was a widely-used combat technique from the Heian Period to the Sengoku Period. Nasu no Yoichi, a samurai of the Kamakura Period is the most famous horseback archer in Japan. Three kinds of Japanese horseback archery (Kasagake, Yabusame, and Inuoumono (dog shooting)) were defined.
When the arquebus was introduced to Japan in the 16th century, archery became outdated. To maintain traditional Japanese horseback archery, Tokugawa Yoshimune, the eighth Tokugawa shogun, ordered the Ogasawara clan to found a school. Current Japanese horseback archery succeeds to the technique reformed by the Ogasawara clan.
Traditionally, women were barred from performing in yabusame, but in 1963 female archers participated in a yabusame demonstration for the first time.
Read more about this topic: Mounted Archery
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