For international students in Fukuoka, it will be extremely exciting when they have a chance to experience a Japanese traditional cultural event. Well, I was one of the lucky ones to volunteer in the “Yabusame” event, which is one of my unforgettable memories, and I’m so happy to share that with a lot of new friends.

The “Yabusame” event is one of the Japanese traditional events related to Shinto rituals and is registered as “Fukuoka City Intangible Folk Cultural Properties”. The traditional activity I participated in was conducted in Iimori Shrine, aiming to pray for good harvests, long-lasting military fortune, and no illness or disaster.

The volunteer group consisted of 4 graduate students. The event was well organized and supported by Mr. Tsuda from the Design Workshop of Kyushu University. We were very serious during our preparation for the event, like picking up the event tools and putting on traditional Japanese costumes. For men, they wore Kosode and Hitatare, while for women, they wore Suikan. These are assumed to be one of the Heian costumes. The costumes are so special that they made us feel much closer to the Japanese traditional life.

After we were dressed, we joined the parade, which mainly consisted of archers with excellent skills. Everyone in the parade was dressed in beautiful costumes, and the archers were riding a horse. It was such a beautiful scene in the eyes of the audience. After that, we sat along the street to watch the performance of the archers. They tried to hit the target set in a straight line while racing a horse. When they did that, loud cheers and applause erupted from us as well as the audience. That made us very excited! Towards the end, we got a memorial item, a golden color arrow with a good meaning that every target would be perfectly hit. We ended with a wonderful barbecue party. That was such a fabulous day!

Above all, the Japanese traditional cultural event “Yabusame” is really an interesting activity. I would suggest everyone should take a chance to have a try for the event. You are definitely going to love it!

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About the Writer
I am Jiang Moyou, a third-year student in the doctoral course. I’m from Heilongjiang province, the northeast of China. I love music, movies, dramas, and especially Japanese animations. And that’s why I started to learn Japanese and came to Geiko as an international student. I’m also learning English and Korean because I think it is really fun to know other countries’ cultures through their native languages. Of course, the delicious local food always makes me feel very satisfied! I’ve already lived in Fukuoka for almost five years. If you have any problem with living or studying, please feel free to contact me anytime!

Jiang Moyou
Human Science International Course   
Graduate School of Design