Yabusame (Mounted archery at three targets)
流鏑馬Japanese mounted archery: a rider at the gallop shoots at three wooden targets along a track. Today it is held mainly as a Shinto ceremony, for example at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in Kamakura.
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About Yabusame (Mounted archery at three targets)
Yabusame is Japanese mounted archery in which a rider at the gallop shoots in turn at three wooden targets along a straight track. Daijisen defines it as a kind of shooting from horseback: the archer in hunting dress lets the horse run and shoots three square targets with an arrow with a sounding head. With kasagake and inuoumono it was, according to Daijisen, Nikkoku and Nipponica, one of three disciplines of mounted shooting of Kamakura-period warriors. Nipponica, citing Muromachi manuals, gives a track about 218 m long and cypress-board targets about 54.5 cm on a side, Maypedia a track of about 220 m, while koryu.com and the government magazine Highlighting Japan write of roughly 250 m.
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According to Obunsha Nihonshi jiten the origin of yabusame is unclear. Nikkoku gives as the first attested occurrence of the word a passage in the Chuyuki diary of 1096, and Yamakawa Nihonshi shojiten places it in the tradition of mounted shooting by court military officials. The Takeda-ryu school and Japanese Wikipedia give an older legend, by which the beginning reportedly goes back to the 6th century, when Emperor Kinmei had archers in Usa shoot at three targets from horseback. According to Nipponica the name is a corruption of yabaseme, while Heibonsha writes more cautiously that it is reportedly a corruption of one of two older expressions. Maypedia adds that the sound of the sounding arrow was believed to protect against evil and that contemporary sources treat it almost exclusively as an offering martial art. Maypedia says the chronicle Azuma kagami has many mentions of yabusame, the first from 1184 at Kazusa Ichinomiya, and that most of the others concern offerings at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, where selected gokenin excelling in archery shot. The city of Kamakura dates the beginning of today's ceremony to the offering of Minamoto no Yoritomo at the hojoe festival on 15 August 1187, citing Azuma kagami. Nipponica writes that Yoritomo supported yabusame and unified its rules. The tradition of the Ogasawara-ryu school, adopted by Nihon Kobudo Kyokai and Green, says that Ogasawara Nagakiyo (1162 to 1242) taught archery to Yoritomo's warriors, but Heibonsha calls this tradition doubtful and Nipponica puts the first attested teacher of the shoguns from the Ogasawara family only in 1430. From the Muromachi period yabusame declined according to Obunsha, and in the Edo period, according to Nipponica and Britannica, the shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune revived it in the Kyoho years (1716 to 1736) and entrusted it to the Ogasawara family. Today yabusame is held mainly as a Shinto ceremony. Daijisen names Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in Kamakura, where according to the city it takes place in April at the Kamakura matsuri and on 16 September at the shrine's annual festival. Highlighting Japan says only two schools maintain the historical lines, Ogasawara-ryu and Takeda-ryu, and that the ceremony has no winners or ranking, though newer groups also develop competitive sport yabusame. According to its own website, Takeda-ryu is represented by the association Dai Nippon Kyubakai based in Kamakura. Ogasawara-ryu is led by the 31st head of the Ogasawara family, Ogasawara Kiyotada.
History
According to Obunsha Nihonshi jiten the origin of yabusame is unclear, and the oldest mention is in the Chuyuki diary. Nikkoku cites a passage dated the 29th day of the 4th month of 1096, while Yamakawa Nihonshi shojiten gives another place for the same year and describes a track 2 cho long, fenced on both sides, with square targets 3 shaku 5 sun from the track. Yamakawa links yabusame to the tradition of mounted shooting by court military officials, and Daijisen says shooting from horseback was a court ceremony on 5/5. Japanese Wikipedia adds older accounts: Nihon shoki mentions a demonstration of shooting at targets from horseback under Emperor Tenmu (Wikipedia converts the year to 682, Britannica to 680), Minamoto no Yoshiie reportedly dedicated yabusame to a shrine in 1063, and in 1136 ten riders shot at the Kasuga Wakamiya on-matsuri festival. The Takeda-ryu school derives the beginning from Emperor Kinmei in the 6th century and from the time Emperor Uda is said to have ordered Minamoto no Yoshiari to set the rules of bow and horse (Japanese Wikipedia gives the year 896), but Kodansha's biographical dictionary knows Yoshiari (845 to 897) only as a court dignitary and is silent on shooting.
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In the Kamakura period yabusame became the offering shooting of the gokenin. Maypedia says Azuma kagami has many mentions, the first from the 17th day of the 1st month of 1184 at Kazusa Ichinomiya as a prayer for peace in the east, and that most others concern offerings at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, where selected gokenin shot at the festivals of 3/3, 3/4, 5/5 and at the hojoe on 15/8. The city of Kamakura writes in its plan for protecting historical character that the Kamakura ceremony reportedly began with an offering by Minamoto no Yoritomo at the hojoe on 15/8/1187, citing Azuma kagami. For the same day Japanese Wikipedia says that Suwa Morizumi, chief priest of Suwa taisha, demonstrated a surviving technique, was pardoned and admitted among the gokenin, and that Yoritomo learned yabusame from Saigyo. Nipponica writes that Yoritomo supported yabusame and unified its rules, and recalls the story from Azuma kagami in which Kumagai Naozane refused to set up the targets at the hojoe, regarding the task as beneath an archer's standing. According to Japanese Wikipedia there were reportedly 47 yabusame offerings at Tsurugaoka up to the time of the regent Hojo Tokimune. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai says that in 1187 Yoritomo entrusted the teaching of archery to his warriors to Ogasawara Nagakiyo (1162 to 1242), Green says the same without the year, Heibonsha calls this tradition doubtful, and Nipponica puts the first attested teacher of the shogun from the Ogasawara family only in 1430. In its article on Nagakiyo Nipponica says only that his descendant of the sixth generation made the way of bow and horse a family art. From the Muromachi period yabusame declined according to Obunsha. In the Edo period, according to Nipponica and Britannica, the eighth shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune revived it in the Kyoho years (1716 to 1736) on the basis of old documents and entrusted it to the Ogasawara family. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai and Wikipedia give two different names for the twentieth head of the family who carried out the revival. Highlighting Japan adds that the revival also produced a simplified form with lighter clothing called kisha hasamimono. According to the city of Shinjuku, in 1728 yabusame was held in Takadanobaba as a prayer for the shogun's heir to recover from smallpox, and this ceremony continues today. The Takeda-ryu line is described by the school's text adopted by Omi jingu: in the Muromachi period one branch of the Takeda family administered the rules of bow and horse, in the Tokugawa period the tradition was kept by the Hosokawa family in Higo province and passed to a vassal named Takehara Koreshige, whose family held it further. Dai Nippon Kyubakai says that after the master's death in Kumamoto in 1933 a new master took the title of 34th head of the school with the permission of the marquis of the Hosokawa family, that the association was founded on 25 January 1939, and that in April 1941 three schools of mounted shooting, Takeda, Ogasawara and Hosokawa, performed before the emperor. Highlighting Japan says that only Ogasawara-ryu and Takeda-ryu maintain the historical lines of yabusame today.
How it differs
Yabusame is one of three disciplines of mounted shooting of warriors that Daijisen, Nikkoku and Nipponica list together: yabusame, kasagake and inuoumono. The difference from kasagake lies in the targets and the degree of ceremony. Yabusame shoots three targets close to the track, kasagake according to Maypedia one target placed far away, about 30 m, and according to Nikkoku it has a less strict ceremony, simpler equipment and needs less space. Dai Nippon Kyubakai adds that in yabusame the rider goes one way and shoots three targets on the left, whereas in kasagake he rides there and back. According to Nipponica inuoumono was shooting at running dogs with arrows that do not kill the dog, last demonstrated in 1881 according to Nikkoku, and it is not practised today. Dai Nippon Kyubakai calls yabusame a Shinto ceremony connected with prayer and grants it a special position among the three disciplines.
Technique
Daijisen describes yabusame as follows: the archer in hunting dress lets the horse run and shoots three square wooden targets with an arrow with a sounding head. Nikkoku speaks of a straight track beside which targets stand in three places, rhombic boards set in bamboo stakes, and Japanese Wikipedia says the square board is set on its tip, i.e. as a rhombus. The sources differ on dimensions. Nipponica, citing Muromachi manuals, gives a track of about 218 m (2 cho) and cypress-board targets about 54.5 cm on a side on stakes, the first 36.4 m from the start and the other two each 72.7 m further. Maypedia gives a track of 120 ken (about 220 m) fenced on both sides and targets 1 shaku 4 sun (about 50 cm) on a side, Japanese Wikipedia for the Tokugawa form a board 1 shaku 8 sun on a side on a stake 3 shaku 5 sun long, targets about 5 m from the track and about 2 m high. Highlighting Japan and koryu.com write of roughly 250 m, the city of Kamakura of today's target spacing of about 70 m. According to Japanese Wikipedia and Dai Nippon Kyubakai the targets stand on the left in the direction of riding, and Nipponica adds that an official originally held them and only later were they stuck into the ground.
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According to Britannica the arrow has four feathers and a karimata head, which Daijisen and Nikkoku describe as forked and which Nipponica says is fitted in front of the sounding head. Nipponica in its article on this arrow describes a hollow ball of wood or deer antler with holes that sounds sharply in flight. Dai Nippon Kyubakai, by contrast, says no iron point is fitted at the ceremony, since the ceremony avoids blood. The dress is the hunting dress of the Kamakura period: Daijisen names a hat, an archer's glove, a hand guard and leg covers, and Dai Nippon Kyubakai adds a guard with the family crest on the left hand and leg covers of summer deer hide. Dai Nippon Kyubakai describes riding and shooting: a seat called tachisukashi, in which the rider does not grip the horse with the legs and the hips do not touch the saddle, in a Japanese saddle and stirrups, and a shooting technique straight to the left (yunde yoko), used for the three targets of yabusame. Between targets the archer has, says the same association, only a few seconds to nock the next arrow. For the Tokugawa form Japanese Wikipedia describes standing in the stirrups about 3 sun above the saddle with the body leaning forward, the first arrow nocked at the start and the other two drawn on the move from a quiver of five arrows, and a loud shout before each target. It says the first rider of the day recites a norito before shooting, opens a fan and throws it high in front of him, and the last rider raises a whip between the second and third targets, which is considered very difficult.
Training
Ceremonial yabusame is learned within schools of mounted shooting. Ogasawara Kiyotada, 31st head of Ogasawara-ryu, described in a 2005 conference proceedings that the student first masters the basics of etiquette, reiho, and only then learns archery and mounted shooting, which begins with yabusame. Dai Nippon Kyubakai says for Takeda-ryu that before the admission assessment an applicant must attend at least two regular training sessions, held every Sunday except performance days, that experience with riding or kyudo is more a recommendation, and that the school turns away anyone who only wants to shoot at many targets, since it is not a sport. Dai Nippon Kyubakai describes the ceremony as a sequence of acts with a drum, prayer and arrows, in which the rider before riding the track circles three times to the left and twice to the right and aims the arrow at the sky and the earth. The city of Kamakura says today's ceremony at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu begins with opening rites, continues with shooting by three riders in hunting dress and ends with shooting by more than ten riders at smaller targets with blunt arrows.
Competition
Yabusame in its ceremonial form is not a competition. Highlighting Japan states that no winners or ranking are announced and the main goal is to hit all three targets. Britannica and Maypedia nevertheless classify it among competitions and Nipponica calls it a shooting technique, Obunsha writes that it was originally a competition for practising martial arts and only later a ceremony. Besides ceremonial yabusame there is, according to Highlighting Japan, a competitive form developed by newer groups, Japanese Wikipedia knows it as sport yabusame organized under the rules of individual venues and mentions an association for competitive yabusame. Dai Nippon Kyubakai distinguishes schools that practise yabusame as a Shinto ceremony from groups that practise shooting from horseback as a sport. We have not found unified rules, target dimensions or a championship of the competitive form.
Today
Daijisen says yabusame is preserved today as a ceremony, for example at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in Kamakura. The city of Kamakura specifies that it takes place there in April at the Kamakura matsuri and on 16 September as the close of the shrine's three-day annual festival, and Japanese Wikipedia assigns the April ceremony to Takeda-ryu and the September and October ones to Ogasawara-ryu. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai says Ogasawara-ryu practises mounted shooting at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, at Omiya Hachimangu in Suginami in Tokyo, at the Shimogamo shrine in Kyoto, at Kasuga Taisha and in Nikko. The Shimogamo shrine holds a ceremony of shooting from horseback on 3 May (Japanese Wikipedia places it before the Aoi matsuri) and says that in 1973 it merged its older ceremony with the yabusame of the Kamakura shogunate into one festival. According to the city of Shinjuku a local association and the Ana Hachimangu shrine hold an annual yabusame in Toyama Park, which in 2026 fell on 12 October.
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According to its own website, Takeda-ryu is represented by the public-benefit association Dai Nippon Kyubakai based in Kamakura, which lists among its regular ceremonies Meiji jingu, Samukawa jinja, Kamakura matsuri, Fuji Omuro Asama jinja, Mishima Taisha, Odawara and the beach in Zushi city. Highlighting Japan wrote in December 2025 that Ogasawara-ryu and Takeda-ryu are the only two schools maintaining the historical lines of yabusame, Ogasawara-ryu reportedly for over 850 years and 31 generations. Omi jingu names the second Takeda-ryu organization, the Kamakura branch, as organizer of its ceremonies. We have not found its verified website.
Did you know
Nipponica recalls a story from Azuma kagami: Kumagai Naozane refused to set up the targets at yabusame at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, regarding the task as beneath an archer's standing. Ogasawara Kiyotada adds in a 2025 university journal that he reportedly lost part of his estate for it. Maypedia says the sound of the flying sounding arrow was regarded as protection against evil, and Kokugakuin University in its encyclopedia of Shinto writes that warriors originally performed the ceremony at shrines to learn the outcome of the harvest. Japanese Wikipedia describes two special tasks: the first rider of the day throws a fan high before shooting and the last rider raises a whip between the second and third targets. Dai Nippon Kyubakai says that in April 1941 three schools of mounted shooting, Takeda, Ogasawara and Hosokawa, performed before the emperor.
Frequently asked questions
How many targets does yabusame have and how long is the track?
Three targets along a straight track, as Daijisen, Nikkoku, Nipponica and Britannica agree. The sources differ on the track length: Nipponica and Japanese Wikipedia about 218 m (2 cho), Maypedia about 220 m, Highlighting Japan and koryu.com roughly 250 m. The cypress-board targets are about 54.5 cm on a side according to Nipponica, about 50 cm according to Maypedia.
Is yabusame a sport or a religious ceremony?
Mainly a ceremony today. Highlighting Japan states that there are no winners or ranking, Daijisen and the city of Kamakura call it a Shinto ceremony. Obunsha Nihonshi jiten writes that it was originally a competition for practising martial arts, and Highlighting Japan adds that newer groups also develop competitive sport yabusame.
Where and when can yabusame be seen?
The city of Kamakura names Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in April at the Kamakura matsuri and on 16 September, the Shimogamo shrine in Kyoto its ceremony on 3 May, and the city of Shinjuku Toyama Park in October. Dai Nippon Kyubakai further names Meiji jingu, Samukawa jinja, Fuji Omuro Asama jinja, Mishima Taisha, Odawara and the beach in Zushi city.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.