Engaku-Ji Temple III: Kyudo
In traditional hakama (black trousers with legs so wide it looks like a skirt) and gi (the white top) each archer took - I timed it - 2 full minutes to loose an arrow. A step forward, then notch the arrow, look at the target, look back and slide the right foot back to a stable stance, then they would relax their right hand back to their side. Pause.
Then: look at the target again, raise bow above the head; push the bow out, then pull back the arrow. Pause again,
Then loose. All in total silence.
In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Fol... ... read more 
