The ceremony of offering arrows is a ritual to pray to the gods for the safety of the archers before the competition begins.
The ceremony is completed by three people, with the shooter being a person of prestige, while the other two are responsible for handing and retrieving the arrows.
The ceremony is focused on etiquette, with each movement following a strict process.
In the venue, the hand drawing the string is the focus of everyone’s attention.
His gaze is sharp, his spirit calm.
The hearts of the crowd tremble along with the slight shake of his kake.
The stance of concentrated string drawing draws everyone’s curiosity and aesthetic appreciation.
This is the charm of a Kyudo competition.
Great three, meeting, departure.
Under the bright sound of the string, a white feather arrow flies out with a thud, hitting the bullseye in everyone’s hearts.
A middle-aged man in a black kimono, with his left chest exposed, takes the arrow handed over by the retriever, bows to the audience, performs a smooth exit ritual, and disappears from the dojo.
"Akazawa Enki, Refiner Sixth Rank, a member of the Shinjuku District Kyudo Association." Ogata Asaka watches the middle-aged man walking towards the periphery.
"Is he very skilled?" Chitose Mai notices many people with cameras nearby.
"He is fifty-six this year," Ogata Asaka says with his usual cold tone, "Breaking, it won’t take me long to catch up to him."
"Breaking? What does that mean?" Chitose Mai is puzzled by the inexplicable term.
Hirata Masanobu turns to explain: "’Preserve, Break, and Leave’ is a concept in Kyudo, though I’ve only heard about it."
"I don’t know either," Sakurai Fumiko shakes her head at Chitose Mai.
Hearing the crowd’s confusion, Sugita Shuhei calmly explains, "’Preserve’ refers to the shooter’s imitation of the shooting form. All movements strive to follow the doctrines and textbook guidelines, practicing the basics outlined in Kyudo books until skilled."
"Many teachers have told me that people in this stage should focus on theory, supplemented by practical training."
"Once imitation is perfect and with personal understanding, what’s next is the so-called ’Breaking’. ’
Ogata Asaka takes over, "Akazawa Enki is still in the ’Breaking’ stage in his fifties. Although people often say he’s skilled, I don’t think it’s extraordinary."
"That’s not quite right," Sugita Shuhei smiles, "’Fearless, doubtless, heartless, intentionless, skillless, unrestricted, unmoved, unbiased’—the so-called ’Leave’ is very difficult."
"Senior Sugita, why does it sound more and more mysterious?" Chitose Mai becomes increasingly confused.
Sugita Shuhei looks up at the blue sky: "Kyudo has developed its own philosophies and systems over time. It’s the result of a collective effort from everyone."
Amidst the sounds of photo-taking and voices, the opening ceremony concludes.
The staff call on students participating in the individual tournament to wait in the waiting room.
Uesugi Sakura takes out his phone to the venue entrance to meet Hanamaru Hanabi, who has just arrived.
The gentle breeze sways the lush green leaves, and under the morning sun, the girl’s violet eyes glimmer brightly.
Behind Uesugi Sakura stands a promotional board for the "Tokyo Shinjuku Kyudo Association Competition".
"Sakura... why didn’t you wake Hanabi up?"
She has a light blue small bag at her waist, with a cartoon shark on it.
Today, she is wearing a snow-white little dress.
"Hanabi likes to sleep in, it’s not good to wake her up." Uesugi Sakura smiled at her small face.
Hanamaru Hanabi looked at him blankly, whispering, "Today is Sakura’s competition; as long as Sakura calls Hanabi, Hanabi will definitely get up."
"It’s just a preliminary match, nothing too important, and didn’t you participate in the painting contest two days ago? A little more rest is good."
Hanamaru Hanabi paused for a second, then whispered:
"Sakura’s competition is more important than Hanabi’s."
"Little Hanabi’s rest is more important than my competition." Uesugi Sakura knew she’d say that, "Don’t strain yourself too much."
Hanamaru Hanabi shook her little head, "Hanabi isn’t straining herself, Hanabi just wants to fulfill the promise with Sakura."
Uesugi Sakura glanced at her hands folded in front of her skirt, smiled and said, "Let’s watch the competition first; our team event hasn’t started yet."
"Okay." Just as she took a step, Hanamaru Hanabi suddenly gave him a lovely smile, "Sakura looks very handsome today."
Her smile always imbues others.
"As long as little Hanabi likes it."
This district-level event sees participation from seventy-two high schools.
It seems a lot, but very few clubs can truly land twenty arrows out of forty.
Mastering a Japanese bow that’s several centimeters taller than oneself is no easy task.
Most students are well aware of their own strength, so joining this competition is just a chance to gain experience.
The real interest is in only a few well-known schools.
When Mizuki High School enters upon the referee’s signal, all eyes gather on them.
Five people, with the same stance and moves, hold longbows and arrows of different colors, enter calmly and slowly, proceeding to their shooting positions.
"Has Mizuki entered the arena?"
"Just from looking, you can tell they’re completely different from those guys before."
"The movements, posture, demeanor, especially the one walking at the end, so... graceful..."
"That guy’s Fuya Nanori, right? Heard he holds the record for consecutively hitting twenty arrows."
With excellent hearing, Uesugi Sakura heard the murmuring of the audience behind; if nothing else, just the arm strength of Fuya Nanori’s consecutive twenty-arrow shooting is commendable.
Compared to ordinary bow types, the high-raised string-drawing posture of the Japanese bow demands more energy and tests the arm muscles.
When most people first get into Kyudo, they often find after just raising the bow above the shoulder, they can’t draw the string any further.
Chitose Mai, chatting with Hanamaru Hanabi about all sorts of girlish topics, didn’t interest Uesugi Sakura much, though most were about him.
"Are all five members of Mizuki in the individual tournament?"
Hearing his voice, Sugita Shuhei responded, "Seven, with two substitutes. It’s sort of a tradition; usually, Mizuki participants join both individual and team events."
After Mizuki’s ceremonial entry, they sat on the prepared benches in the dojo.
The referees then announced the next batch of high school players for the individual tournament to enter.
Compared to Mizuki, their seats drew much less attention.
The broadcast voice: "First Shooting Range, number one, Mizuki High School · Fuya contestant.
Number two, Tsukishima High School · Takayasu contestant.
Number three, Mizuki High School · Asanuma contestant.
Number four, Tsukishima High School · Noda contestant.
Number five, Mizuki High School · Shimokawa contestant.
Second Shooting Range, number one, Tsukishima High School · Ooya contestant.
Number two, Mizuki High School · Yagi contestant.
Number three, Tsukishima High School · Makita contestant.
Number four, Mizuki High School · Fuchigami contestant.
Number five, Tsukishima High School · Higa contestant.
"Nothing surprising in the preliminary rounds, Mizuki will advance." Kanai Hideyoshi focused his attention on Fuya Nanori at the number one position.