O-mato Taikai at Sanjusangendo - Kyoto, Japan

In Japan, turning 20 is a big deal for most young people. It's the year when society welcomes them into adulthood. Seijin no hi (Coming Of Age Day) is celebrated in the second week of January, and is usually celebrated with big ceremonies and parties. Young girls who attended the O-mato Taikai festival at Sanjusangen-do festival, celebrated their 'Seijin no hi' in a very interesting way.

Young girls from all over Japan gathered at the temple to participate in an archery display. Archery in Japan was one of the disciplines practiced by the Samurai during the feudal times. Dressed in their Haregi Kimonos, girls shoot their arrows into a target 60meters away. The girls looked beautiful and strong, no doubt it was a memorable and exciting way to celebrate their special day.

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[broccolifan]

At age of 20, set the goal and target as far as you can aim at, and then use inner strength calmly build the potential to hit the target. Yes, this is very beautiful traditional celebration in Japan. The most beautiful part is from inside each of us. I can fully understand why Japan keeps this tradition while viewers are watching thru YT in modern days.
The more I watched it, the more beautiful I could find.
"Never lose sight of your target and goal."

[ariohandoyo]

I adore you japan, japan is my lovely country. And i do love japanese girl, japan is the best. Oh yeah, i know Nakizumou that tradition is unique.🇯🇵😍😍😍

[jnsurg]

Wonderful upload!  Tranquility of mind.

[dikiyugekatan]

differences between tokyo and kyoto, kyoto more peaceful. i wish i could spent my old age on there. haha :)

[LKBean]

This was so beautiful to watch! Thank you for sharing!

[Fogheart]

That was a beautiful scene to see. Thankyou for sharing it :)

[DancesWithCranes]

What a great video.
Looks very interesting. 

[stoneshyjohn]

traditional culture is fascinating， 礼、乐、射、御、书、数 are the six skill of top class people in ancient China， but nowdays， Chinese know none of them

[nguyenquocbao]

Great video~
Please let me know the name of the song in video.
Please~

[EvaNagedesign]

Mmm, I wish I was turning 20 in Japan. :)

[GenX-Memories]

2:09 That's how you do it, she has the eye of the tiger.

[miekepeters]

@Kyoto Fan: When will this event be held in January 2015? I will be in Japan by then and would love to see this... BTW, what else is done on Coming of Age day which is interesting to watch?

[guignol]

i you get the chance don’t miss Mikio Naruse’s 1945 film 三十三間堂通し矢物語 (Sanjūsangen-dō tōshiya monogatari).

[yogditya]

is the archery display a must do or one can choose not to do it ?

[eyenmaiden]

I can't imagine how painful it would be if the bow hit your body

[xbx]

There's is some hot looking girls.. (:

[wolfganghuhn]

Half of them closed their eyes upon release 😖