的射の作法

The spring festival in Koedao used to be held on 15 March in the old calendar, but is now held on 15 and 16 April. The event is still held. Until recently, private houses were used as festival lodges on a rotating basis, but have now been replaced by assembly centres. The shooting range is set up in the garden and the distance to the target is 18 ken (about 32 metres). The event is conducted by the front seat on the right side facing the target. On the left side there is an assistant called honseki, and in the centre there are two archers. The main role is to judge whether the arrow hits the target or not, and the front seat and the main seat compete with each other with the archer on the other side. The archers excluding these three roles are called nakagashira. One of the distinctive features of target shooting in Shiiba is the 'divine target'. The divine target in Koedao is a bamboo ring to which a sheet of paper is attached each year. The bamboo of this divine target bears the inscription '250th Anniversary Hachimansha Shikiyou Osho 3nen March'. If this is historical fact, it has been continued since Kanbun 4 (1664).