Japanese Archers Hit Mark at Nisei Festival

Nanri Kentaro, 16, high on horseback, rounded the bend at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center clutching a rainbow-striped banner that rustled in the wind. At a gallop, the many colors of Kentaro’s robe caught the sun and sparkled.

Yabusame--Japanese ritual archery from horseback--had arrived.

Eli Filisov’s eyes widened at the sight. The 4-year-old had waited patiently through the long purification ritual that came before the riders. But, like many others gathered, he came for the men on horseback. Event organizers said Saturday’s exhibition was the first time the nearly 800-year-old tradition had been performed in the United States.

Eli, however, was focused on the present.

“Where is the guy with the bow and arrow?” he said.

Soon a rider on a white steed appeared. Sakaki Shin’ichiro wore samurai dress, his sword slung at his side. The crowd stirred as he pounded past them, his robes and the horse’s mane streaming by. He took aim, released and hit his target, practicing the same skills that his ancestors centuries before had taken onto the battlefield.

“How do they balance like that?” Eli said.

“Practice, practice and more practice,” said his father, Robert Philips.

The 34-member delegation from Fukuoka, Japan, came to kick off the 58th annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival in Los Angeles. With several hundred spectators packing the bleachers and overflowing onto the grass, a Buddhist priest prayed for the many Japanese immigrants who had made sacrifices for their homeland and adopted country.

The Japanese exhibition group, made up of members of the Iimori Shrine, can trace its history back 727 years. Yabusame was practiced by warriors for feudal lords in Japan to train for battle, said announcer Noriko Abe.

In Yabusame, archers usually shoot at targets about 300 yards apart. The distance Saturday was cut almost in half because of the size of the field. At full speed the archers shot at the first target, then reloaded and quickly shot again.

To hit the target, Abe said, represented the harmony of heaven and earth and the promise that the prayers being made would come true.

The crowd seemed pleased with the display, showing appreciation with loud applause.

“I thought it was great,” said Sharadha Viswanathan, who said the purification ritual reminded her of her native India. The archers, though, were new to her.

“I liked very much the bow and arrows,” said Viswanathan, who came with a group from a Westside senior center. “We got to see them hit two bull’s-eyes!”

The Yabusame group will appear on horseback today in the Nisei Week Grand Parade in Little Tokyo. The parade begins at 4 p.m.