Yabusame Shinji: Japanese horeseback archery

Spent the day at the Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto watching the preparations and ceremonies for this year's Yabusame Shinji, a horseback archery 'demonstration' as part of the shrine's celebrations at the state of the month-long Hollyhock Festival.

Horses belt down a 400-metre pathway through the forest surrounding the shrine while the riders shoot metre-long arrows at three small targets arranged along the track. The riders are dressed in full ceremonial samurai gear, reminiscent of earlier times and have to notch an arrow and shoot, three times, while steering their horses with their knees at about 60kph. It's an amazing display of skill that you are unlikely to see anywhere else.

Natalie and I shot more than 2000 frames during the day so have a bit of editing to do before posting more!