Kyudo: Japanese Archery Competition

This photo is of Japanese archers circa 1870-1880

Kyudo, Japanese archery has been in practice since feudal era and the days of the samurai.  Today it is practiced just for fun and to carry on tradition.  Every year our little town hosts its own competition in which skilled kyudoka in full traditional dress wield long bows and attempt to hit their target from the back of a galloping horse.  Beautiful and breathtaking, watching this display is like stepping back in time.

 After each pass, the sand is smoothed over and made ready for the next competitor.  The difficulty of it and the skill involved combined with the brilliant costumes and the pressing throngs cheering for every competitor; it was all so exciting and reminded me very much of a medieval jousting tournament.

At the end of the tournament, the festivities carried on with lunch on the beach and booths to visit.  We headed to a dumpling vendor to sample some of the local fair.  My husband is beyond happy that we have access to so much fresh seafood here.

And thankfully my girls are pretty adventurous when it comes to food as well.  My oldest was thrilled when she pulled a whole octopus from her dumpling.  She paused long enough to let me snap a pic before she gobbled it up in one bite.