写真

This photograph was taken at the Kyūdō place at the site in Meiji Jingu　Shrine. I dropped in at the martial art place at the occasion performed to worship in Meiji Jingu Shrine. The intercollegiate tournament game was held at the Kyūdō place on that day. The game is executed by one set of three-person of each school, and is the form of contesting with other school. The player releases a bow toward the 28-m-away target. The victory decides by sum of three person which hits a target. Kyūdō is the japanese martial art of archery. It has the purpose training own mind and body through a series of conduct which shoots an arrow with japanese archery and hits to a target. It originates the archery of old martial art, and it also has the field of a sporting event and gymnastics with it now. About clothes, a jacket is white with half sleeve in principle, and the hakama is black or dark blue. And, white split-toe socks are worn. The martial art activity of Japan after Meiji period has complicated changes of many twists and turns. It became Meiji from the end of Edo Period, the class system till then collapsed, and the archery which is a samurai's front art had greatly forced changes in connection with the current of the times when the Occidental newest arms are introduced into an army. When it entered in the middle of Meiji, as for the social situation, nationalistic thought gained power with the rise of patriotism against the background of the start of elementary school education, thoroughness of the draft system, the victory by Nissin and the Russia-Japanese War, etc. A martial art begins to be used by a national policy, and people came to do new recognition and respect of various martial art and Bushido(the samurai spirit) including Kyūdō. However, martial art was pointed out to GHQ as a powerful centralized organization, the lesson of the martial art in a school was extensively forbidden to eradicate a wartime look by the Ministry of Education after the World War Ⅱ. Then, the martial art ban was lifted in 1952 when occupation of the Allies was canceled, and it has continued up to now.
Since I felt the problem about an angle and distance although I took photographes from the seats for the audience in the beginning, I moved to the aisle side near the contestant stage, and took this photograph.

(p.s.)
Players from another angle: workshop