Yuba Hajime - Yuba Hajime

Japanese: 弓場始 - ゆばはじめ

An annual event held by samurai families at the beginning of the year. It is also called Yumihajime or Matohajime. Unlike mounted archery such as Yabusame, Kasagake, and Inuoumono, many archery events held during the New Year involved shooting on foot, that is, shooting arrows on foot. It is believed that the New Year's archery events were held not for martial arts training, but rather for magical beliefs to predict good and bad luck at the beginning of the year and to ward off evil spirits. Yubahajime was modeled after the Jiyarai (archery ceremony) held at the Imperial Court, but as it is an archery event, it developed especially in samurai society. With the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate, Yubahajime was given a new character as a samurai ritual, and was generally held around the 10th day of the New Year. Archers were paired on either side of the archery line, with 6 or 10, or sometimes 12, archers shooting 10 times each. The Shogun also personally attended the ceremony.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

武家の歳首の年中行事。弓始，的（まと）始ともいう。流鏑馬（やぶさめ），笠懸，犬追物などのような騎射に対して，正月に催される弓矢の行事の多くは，歩射つまり徒歩で矢を射た。正月に行われる矢弓行事は，練武のためというよりも，年初の吉凶を卜し，邪鬼を払う呪術的な信仰があったものと思われる。弓場始は朝廷における射礼（じやらい）にならったものだが，弓矢の行事であるだけに，とくに武家社会に発達をみた。鎌倉幕府の成立とともに，弓場始は武家儀礼としての性格を新たにし，おおむね正月中の10日前後を選んで行い，射手は6人または10人，ときには12人を左右に番（つが）い，それぞれ10回ずつ射させ，将軍も親しくその式に臨んだ。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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