​KASAGAKE AT THE KAMIGAMO SHRINE IN KYOTO

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Kasagake is one type of Japanese traditional archery and one of the arts practiced by the Samurai. 

This archery festival at the Kamigamo Shrine, is the only Kasagake event currently celebrated in the Kansai Region, where Kyoto is located. It is also the only one conducted as a Shrine ritual in all of Japan.

This event is unique for the participation of female archers.

Below is a series of photos that showcase the event.

The day of the festival was a bit rainy, the running path was muddy but not to the point of slippery, and the arrows and bows were  also wet. Despite all of this, the archers were incredibly graceful and  hit many targets which always produced a collective wow in the viewers.

What you just saw:

There is a ceremony, before they begin, which consists of the archers being offered an arrow.

They follow that by doing test runs on the 215 meter grassy path.

They ride one way and attempt to hit three ceramic targets on the  left side.
Then they ride back and  have a new set of targets to go for.  The targets on the way back are wooden squares which have been placed down low. 

The way their bodies move to shoot in this direction is very different from when they shoot the targets up high. When they shoot so low it's more of an attack.

​When they are done shooting, they have another ceremony during which the best of the day is acknowledged and given wooden target.

​Then they finish it off, by each of them having a bit of sake offered to them by a priest. Followed by a parade and a photo.

​The silence of it all was something I'd never experienced quite like that.