Yabusame (Horseback Archery) in Furudono Town

Yabusame (Horseback Archery) in Furudono Town

Yabusame is a Japanese sport that has both a spiritual and military component. Originally designed as a ritual to please the gods and pray for health and good harvests, the modern version involves taking aim at three targets along a run about 200 metres long.

The technique takes an immense amount of body control to guide the horse with the rider's knees, while keeping the upper body still to focus on the target.

Furudono Town, in the south of Fukushima Prefecture, hosts tournaments showing off this honoured technique as a way of connecting with Japan’s samurai history and culture. The events have a festival atmosphere with dance performances and food stalls.

The October tournament takes place at Furudono’s Hachiman Shrine, with two days of action over the second weekend of the month, while the June tournament is a simpler version held at the end of the month.  

Venue Details

Venue Details
Best Season
  • Summer
  • Autumn
Access Details
AccessFurudono Hachiman Shrine, Furudono-67 Yamakami, Furudono, Ishikawa District, Fukushima 963-8302 (October tournament)
View directions
Getting there

By Car: About 1 hour from Koriyama Station via Ono I.C.

Fukushima Festival Guide

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Sukagawa Enobori Yoshinoya Workshop

Established in 1836, the Yoshinoya family has been continuing the production of Enobori banners using traditional techniques. Originally the family business was a kimono shop, however, the side business of painting Enobori banners began to grow until is eventually became their main business.These banners typically feature images of warriors and can be quite complex with their designs. They are made by painting on banners with a type of calligraphy ink.To create clean and uniform design, stencils are made from various materials to be used as a guide for the design. Once the basic design is painted with a stencil, you connect the lines and add fine details by hand.As a nod to a famous Sukagawa person, they began creating a design of Ultraman posing as a samurai warrior! You can try out the traditional banner making method explained above to create tote bags and small banners featuring a variety of samurai and Ultraman samurai designs.©円谷プロ
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