from Kōfukuji monjo 興福寺文書 [documents from Kōfukuji Temple]

In this letter, a man named Taira no Tadatsuna, who is otherwise unknown, refuses a request to go to the capital until he hears why he is being summoned. He excuses himself, saying, ‘'My young son has been chosen to perform yabusame at Kasuga Shrine for the Wakamiya Festival, and I'm focused solely on the preparations for that.’ Yabusame 流鏑馬 was a popular form of competitive equestrian archery in which people would shoot at a series of three targets. The first shōgun, Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147-1199), helped popularize the contest. Records of yabusame held during the Wakamiya Festival help to date this document to 1261. (Caption credit: Colton Runyan)

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