On April 18th there was a Yabusame (horseback archery) event in Asakusa so I bought a VIP seat ticket (¥4000) from the travel office on base. Little did I know that the VIP section I was to be seated in was for foreigners (English supported section) which really wasn’t to my liking for numerous reasons but at least the view was good. To put it simply, riders take turns riding down the track attempting to shoot and hit three separate wooden targets. The best archer gets a white clothe to signify his/her accomplishment. It’s a very old tradition and something that I was always interested in since coming to Japan. All in all, there were about 20 riders and the event lasted for about 2 hours. The riders varied in age considerably, with the first three riders being the main event supposedly. I was also surprised by how fast they rode the horses which made it even more awesome when they did hit their targets. Out of the (approximately) 20 riders, I only remember one hitting all three targets. The weather was perfect and walking along the Sumida River in the morning was really nice.
It’s days like these that remind me why I wanted to come to Japan and what makes it so awesome here. Work has been busy so I’ve had to cancel that doki doki flea market that I mentioned earlier. I’m still hoping to go to the Sumo Tournament in Tokyo a couple weeks from now so that should produce some fun pictures too! Till next time!