Toshiya (通し矢) at Sanjusangendo


5th February 2010


Every year in January, an unusual archery competition is held on the grounds of Sanjusangendo, a temple in the south of Kyoto.

The current form of the Toshiya contest is in its 60th year but it dates back to 1609, when archers competed at one end of the temple’s western veranda to send as many arrows as they could into the target 118m away. They shot for 24 hours from six o’clock in the evening, taking a quick break after every 500 arrows. The current record was set in 1686 by a man called Wasa Daihachiro. He fired 13,053 arrows of which 8,133 hit the target.

Today’s competition is held beside the famous veranda and the morning section is for archers who turned 20 in the past year and have achieved at least the level of shodan – the first rung of a 10-step ladder.





Putting on the shooting glove before the contest starts. The thumb is pressed lightly to the first two fingers while the strap is adjusted.






The average Japanese bow used today is 2.2m long. Without a wall or floor bracket, it takes two people to string it: one to hold the tip and the other to loop the string around the other end.




Two arrows are usually fired in one round for kyudo, or traditional Japanese archery.




Waiting to enter the shooting area. Ideally, the bow and arrows extend behind the archer at the same level - rather like unfurling wings.





The moment of full draw. In the background, the veranda where the original Toshiya competition took place.





While most of the male participants wear the practice gear of white gi and black hakama (wide, pleated trousers), some opt for kimono. Men shooting in kimono have to remove their left arm from the sleeve first. In winter, this is not fun.















The first arrow is shot while holding the second at a prescribed angle. It's harder than it looks.





The last of the male entrants with the first of the female competitors waiting behind.





Reason Why People Prefer To Photograph The Girls No.1
















Reason Why People Prefer To Photograph The Girls No.2




In a break from the regular gi and hakama, young female participants wear furisode - colourful kimono with sleeves draping down to the feet. The sleeves have to be tied back with a strip of cloth - tasuki - before the archer can shoot.




And after it's all over...