Horseback archers display skills

A Shinto shrine in Japan has hosted a horseback archery event, a centuries-old ritual that welcomes peace, good harvests and other blessings. The annual display called “Yabusame” is said to date back to the Kamakura period that began in the 12th century.

Organizers prepared a course running about 300 meters along the road leading to the Kashima Jingu shrine in Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo. Three targets were put up at 50-meter intervals. Four archers took turns riding galloping horses along the course. People who had gathered in the rain on Friday to watch the event cheered every time an arrow found one of the 50-centimeter square targets.