THE GIST OF THIS ARTICLE
- Page 1 Overview, Schedule, Ladies in Kimono, the way to admire the competitions
- Page 2 History of Toshiya, About Sanjusangendo, Access
The following is the contents of this article.
Overview 概要
- The archery competition of Sanjusangendo is called “Toshiya.”
- In 2026, it takes place on Jan. 18.
- Photos, videos BANNED.
- It is famous for female archers in Kimono but it also has Men’s and Master’s matches. About 2,000 competitors shoot arrows.
- Toshiya has about 600 years of history.
Schedule
1/18/2026(Reiwa 8) at Sanjusangendo temple
期日 2026年/令和八年 1月18日（日）於三十三間堂
- 8:00 Opening ceremony 開会式
- 8:30 Yawatashi (1st shot) 矢渡
- 8:45 Demonstration デモンストレーション（新成人男子・女子）
- 9:00 Competition 成人男子の部 成人女子の部
- 15:30 Closing ceremony閉会式
The schedule of 2025. The one of 2026 will be the same.
The ladies in Kimono
Women’s match is the most popular because they are in beautiful Haregi Kimono.
Haregi is an outfit for important occasion like wedding ceremony. The archers of Toshiya are in it because they celebrating a coming of age.
The bows they use are the longest one in the world. Even in Samurai archery called Kasakae or Yabusame, archers use ones in nearly the same length. (Actually, the length of bow depends on height of archers.)
Enjoy the videos, BAAH!
How can we enjoy the competitions?
In 2025, the competition was open to us but NO photos and video allowed.
This is the route in 2025. I can’t guarantee the one of this year is the same.
In order to admire them, enter the temple through “South gate” indicated in the green alien in the map. The red lines are the way to it from Keihan Shichijo sta. or Hakubutsukan Sanjusangendo mae bus stops.
The gate opens at 9:00. We can admire the competitions walking on the green line.
The blue line is the field. We walk from the targets toward the archers.
Under the roof, the archers shoot the arrows.
Like this.
The competition 通し矢のルール
Preliminary match 予選
Sanjusangeno is about 130 yards in length. Archers aim at targets about 65 yards ahead. The archers shoot arrows form north to south though they did in the opposite direction.
The targets except for the masters are about 40″ in diameter. The ones for the masters are about 30″.
In the video, you see 5 or 6 archers but there are 12 competitors. They shoot 2 arrows.
If they could shoot 2 targets, they would be in the final match.
The final match 決勝
Archers aim at a targets about 65 yards ahead.
The targets except for the masters are about 31″ in diameter. The ones for the masters are about 20″.
The final match is a tournament.
Let us learn about a history of Toshiya archery in the next page!
