Yabusame

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3

Yay Japan and it's many national holidays! Today was a cultural day, so we had no school. I ended up having some chocolate chip pancakes, then heading to a little shrine north of Otsu. There was a Yabusame demonstration and I was determined to get out and about and go to things. Despite getting up over two hours before my train, I missed my train. This was not good.

See, I had a ticket to Zeze, where I would transfer to the Keihan line, a private train line that would take me up to the shrine. I could go via the JR line, but I'd have to go into Kyoto, then back out of Kyoto, and that would add ridiculous amounts of time. The Keihan would let me cut the corner. But I didn't know how frequently the Keihan ran (my impression was quite infrequently) so I was terrifed because I had a short time to make my Keihan line switch and I would now most definitely miss it.

I ended up getting off at Otsu, which was one step farther, then regretted it, because I could have gone into Kyoto, then back out the other end, but now there wouldn't be a train for ages longer and then just locals. So, I asked the nice ticket lady for directions to the Keihan line, figuring I may as well try my luck there and I hiked the mile or so across town to that station, watched a train pass me, cursed my poor luck, got into the station, found another nice station master who helped me buy a ticket, went down to the platform and caught the next train after only about 3 minutes of waiting. Apparently the trains were running quite frequently.

This got me up to the shrine only about 30 minutes later than I'd planned and, as luck would have it, really nothing had happened. I met up with two other JETS, whom I talked with briefly, then excused myself to go look around. Having come alone, it meant I was free to walk the length of the course and I think I got the best experience because of it.

I was near the top of the course when the procession started. Yabusame is a Japanese art of archery while horseback riding. It's not a sport, because it's religious and to please the gods. That's why it was taking place in a temple. Archers grip and steer their horses at full speed using their knees, while they aim their huge bows and attempt to hit targets as they thunder past. It was quite impressive. There are three targets and hitting all three is considered an accomplishment. The archers (and their horses) were dressed from head to toe in traditional gear and looked quite impressive. They even had swords strapped to their waists.

The procession was lead by a man in white robes carrying a branch with green leaves. He was followed by an assortment of people also in robes, one beating a drum rhythmically, some women carrying the targets and some other unknown personages. The archers mounted their horses and one drew his bow and pointed it in various directions, which I assume was part of the religious ceremony. They processed the length of the course, then the random people hiked back and set up the targets. There were three people next to each target.

It took a while, but the event finally started. There was an official at each end who, when ready, would signal down with a white fan with a red circle on it. He's ceremoniously open it, grandly draw it around over his head, flick it so the other side now faced forward, then completed the circle. Then the official at the far end would signal and then the horse would go. Then the process would be repeated. Actually, it was frustratingly slow considering how quickly each run went.

After all four riders made it down the course, they would all process back with much pomp and, at each target, one of the women would come out with their arrow and hand it to them with a bow. The targets moved from your traditional bulls-eye to a smaller plate target, to a piece of wood that shattered upon being hit. The later being the most fun to watch. It was quite dramatic.

Toward the end, I'd wandered up toward the end of the course and met up with Daniel (from the bike trip) and Jacob, who had originally posted this event on ShigaJET. I tagged along with them a bit and ended up walking back to the station with them. Jacob was talking about what he was doing later, so I casually asked Daniel what he was up to. He was going shopping in Kyoto with Dusty and invited me to come along, which made me slightly uncomfortable, as I hadn't been prying for an invitation. But he was kindly encouraging, so I decided to take him up on it.

Jacob needed to call Martian, whom he was meeting up with, but had forgotten his phone. Daniel didn't have Martian's number but, as luck would have it, I did. There are advantages of having gone up and asked EVERYONE for their number at orientation. So, Jacob borrowed my phone, no one picked up and that was it.

At the Keihan station, there was a train in, so we all sprinted for it. The boys had passes, which they just swiped before jumping on the train. I had to buy a ticket from the ticket master, which took longer. I ended up missing the train and watched as the boys pulled away without me.

While I was on the train, which left about 10 minute after Jacob and Daniel's, I got a call back from Martian. I forwarded on the message that Jacob was trying to reach him, but had no phone and instructed Martian to call Daniel, who did have a phone.

A bit later, I got brave and texted Martian asking if he had Daniel's number. He said he did and thanked me for my help. I texted back saying I didn't and asked if he could give it to me. He complied and I shyly sent a text to Daniel asking if I could really tag along to Kyoto. He sent an affirmative answer and I headed to Kyoto to rendez-vous with him.

We were going to meet by the shinkansen entrance, but I got confused by the many entrances and it took some frantic texting to figure out where I was confused. I eventually rectified my problem and it was all fine. In the meantime, I had managed to duck into a Godiva and peek around. The Christmas line is out. It looks lovely.

We eventually met up with a surprised Dusty (I still don't quite know what Dusty thinks of me) and headed out for shopping. I won't bore you with all the details. The boys were looking for stuff for their winter break trip to Thailand. I still need to figure out what I'm doing. They looked for shoes for poor Daniel, who wears a size 13 men in the US, so he's fresh out of luck here. We went to Uniqlo, and browsed some. I was unimpressed with the women's clothes but also didn't want to spend that much time in that section away from the conversation, so I didn't look too intently. Plus, I didn't want the boys to have to sit through me trying on clothes, so I didn't want to find anything.

I did drag them through a hat store, which I thoroughly enjoyed and I think they tolerated reasonably well.

They browsed a couple more expensive stores (and I ducked out to check out the women's section, next door, which had some very lovely coats for very, very, very much more than I'm willing to spend. Downstairs there were two Japanese girls in short skirt Santa-costumes doing something in high pitched squeaky voices. The boys said something about Christmas fantasies...

Dusty ducked inside a little coffee shop and I wasn't terribly excited until I realised it was a foreign foods store. I was gleeful looking at the (very expensive) things I hadn't seen in months. I ended up buying some cheese sauce and a boxed Indian meal that looked tasty.

We grabbed curry for dinner. It was tasty. They gave us each a little buzzer so we'd know when our food was ready. And this at a food court! I was stunned.

We walked through the station and headed for Jupiter, another foreign food store, but a bigger one. Again, much excitement from Katie, although I didn't have nearly enough time to look around. On our way out, Dusty took Daniel and I on a tour of the station. Dusty has apparently explored. Kyoto station is huge, but lovely in a way that Shinjuku station in Tokyo wasn't. Kyoto station has big, open ceilings, arching roofs, like King's Cross station, and lots of open space. Shinjuku station was closed – ceilings were maybe 8 feet high, and it just felt confined and cramped.

We took the escalators up past the Christmas tree display to the roof, where we got a lovely view of the Kyoto nightscape. Then we headed across the skywalk to the other side where we got a nice view of Kyoto Tower. I gasped, it was so beautiful. On the roof, a white-light gazebo had been set up and Dusty took my picture in it.

We then headed back downstairs. The boys helped me get a swipey card, which is nice, as the process involved reading kanji. Now I just need to put some money on it. I was exhausted on the train back. The boys got off before me, so I spent the end of the ride listening to My Antonia. I have no idea where this book is going.