Japanese Archery Competition: Ogi no Mato Kyudo Taikai

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Ogi no Mato Kyudo Taikai (扇の的弓道大会) is a Japanese archery competition held annually at Lake Chūzenji (Nikkō, Japan). Participants stand on the shore and aim at fan-shaped targets atop poles mounted on boats.

Archers are given 4 arrows by the competition organizers.

The kyudo competition honors a legendary samurai—Nasuno Yoichi—who fought with the Minamoto clan and was famed for his exploits in the late-12th century Genpai War against the Taira clan. According to an account in a chronicle of the war—the Heike Monogatari—during the Battle of Yashima in 1185, a beautiful woman in a Taira clan boat placed a fan atop the pole and dared the Minamoto warriors to knock it down. Nasu no Yoichi rode into the sea on horseback and knocked the fan down with a single shot.

The wind and the waves posed quite a challenge for the competitors. During the competition people in motor boats collected the stray arrows.

For more information about the archery competition, visit my webpage for this video:

About the video
I shot the video and photos on August 4 2023 using an iPhone 10 (for the walking shots) and a Fujifilm XT-5 for the 'stable' shots. I had forgotten to pack a monopod or tripod that morning, so getting stable shots was quite challenging.

Editing was done in Premiere Pro

About the music
The songs can be downloaded from my website:

Somewhere Deep in the Sea is performed and composed by Jessica Yip (I recorded the song):




#kyudo #archery #nikko