On Sunday, I had the awesome opportunity to watch Yabusame Shinji - Japanese archery while riding a galloping horse. It is a Shinto ritual, dating back to 794 AD during the Heian Period (I don't know much about Japanese history yet, I'm just reading this off the packet they gave us!). The whole ceremony started at the temple were several men and a few young girls all assembled and spoke ancient Japanese that I didn't understand. There was music playing, chanting and some prayers. After a while of watching this, we were escorted to another area - right along the track where the horses would be running. An official lead us to the side next to a "Press Seat" box (it was just a bunch of big wood planks put together really) and for a while, we just all crammed together standing next to it. The finally told us that we could sit there. So basically, we had some of the best seats, right by the target that the archers would be shooting at. It seemed that a lot of Japanese people were staring at us and trying to figure out how a bunch of foreigners got the good seats.
Anyway, a priest purified the track and the archers enter the track with their horses and walk back and forth the entire length of the track. After that, the target shooting began. Well, actually, before the archer comes barreling down the track, two people at each end of the track have a fan to indicate when to start. One with a white fan and the other with a red one. When we saw the red fan come up, we knew it was time for them to start coming.
The archers yell, "iyoi iyoi iyoi!" (sounds more epic when you actually hear it) when they approach their target and then fire! Sometimes they missed but when they struck the target, everyone cheers and claps. Most of the horses were going so fast! So fast that at the end of the track where the horse has to suddenly come to a halt, a few archers flew off the horse. They were alright though. One of them had a slight limp, but he still looked like a champ.
I can't remember how many times they did this but it was so exciting every single time. Maybe after 30 minutes or so, they ceremony ended and we were just so stoked that we were able to come see the event. We went our separate ways, me going to eat yakitori or grilled chicken on a stick with two other exchange students. One of them had been to this place two years ago and it was his first time coming back since then. It's a small little place run by a husband and wife - they recognized him immediately and were happy to have him back. We ordered so much and it was all so delicious. I also had my first taste of sake (pronounced "sa-kay" not "sa-key" by the way. You have no excuse to pronounce it wrong from now on, hahaha). I don't like the taste of alcohol at all, so, it's no surprise I didn't like it. But I feel a little more official now that I've had Japan's famous drink.
I can't believe I've been in Japan for nearly a month. It's still pretty magical to me. The magic is dulled a bit by the fact that it's raining all this week (yay for typhoons....). Except for Friday, when me and some other exchange students plan on going to the river (Futako-tamagawa) we see every time we are traveling to school. It's the perfect spot for a picnic. When it's not raining, I often see several people there with tents for camping, people fishing, playing baseball and other sports. It looks positively delightful there. I know I'm going to miss seeing it every day when I go back home. One of those simply beautiful places not overrun by buildings and things like that - a little pocket of serenity.
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