May 5th was a beautiful day, having read about the Kusajishi Festival at the Kamakura-gu Shrine I threw my camera in my backpack and headed out the door. The Kamajura-gu Shrine is about a 20-minute walk from the Kamakura train station and the tourist information booth recommended that I get there early. The festival begins with the reciting/retelling of the story of when Yoritomo Minamoto’s hunting party was held near Mt. Fuji eight centuries ago. There was a very nice Japanese woman standing next to me who spoke English and she helped translate a bit of the story … that the hunting party was initially not successful and that Minamoto hired an archer from the south to instruct his hunters in the sport of archery, they mastered the skills necessary and became successful hunters. The headgear and garb that the archers wear are similar to that worn in the ancient times and their target is made to look like a deer.
The traditional garb was beautiful and the archery demonstration was fascinating. Not just fascinating … Inspiring.
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