The Tōshiya (long-range archery) (通し矢 とおしや, lit. passing arrow) or the arrows which hit the target, was an archery exhibition contest held on the west veranda of Sanjūsangen-dō temple in Kyoto, Japan.
The contest originated in the late 16th century[1] dating back to 1606 when a samurai named Asaoka Heibei is said to have shot 51 arrows in rapid succession down the length of the veranda.[2] In the beginning, archers fired arrows from the southern end of the veranda to the northern end where a curtain-like ornament was erected as a target. The contest gained popularity during the Edo period and by the late 17th century competitions between participants from the Owari and Kishū provinces were drawing big crowds. The Tōshiya would later be used as a motif in stories and film.
There were four distinct events at the competition.[3]
In 1861, after 255 years, the Tōshiya ceased being held, but a contest based on the Tōshiya called Oh-mato Taikai, or Festival of the Great Target
still continues today, drawing roughly 2,000 participants from
throughout Japan. Archers shoot arrows into targets approximately 50 -
100 centimeters in diameter and 60 meters (198 feet) away at the
opposite end of the veranda. It is held on the second Sunday of January
in conjunction with the temple's most important mass, the Yanagi-no-Okaji, or Rite of the Willow ritual and Japan's Coming of Age Day.[7]
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