{"id":179990,"date":"2026-09-28T11:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T02:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=event&#038;p=179990&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2026-09-28T11:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T02:08:16","slug":"yabusame-fes-in-sakurai-shrine-26","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/event\/yabusame-fes-in-sakurai-shrine-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Yabusame Festival in Sakurai Shrine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Itoshima\u2019s only yabusame horseback archery ritual has been held annually since 1653, with prayers for a good harvest and the safety of agricultural horses. Two mounted archers race along the shrine\u2019s approximately 150-meter approach, firing white-feathered arrows at three targets as they pass.<\/p>\n<p>The main attraction is the chance to watch the riders at close range, combining the speed of the horses with the split-second precision of releasing an arrow at full gallop.<\/p>\n<p>A children\u2019s procession follows the ritual, allowing visitors to continue enjoying Sakurai Shrine\u2019s autumn festival atmosphere after the horseback archery concludes.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fn_yabusame-festival-in-sakurai-shrine_2026_cl-001.jpg?resize=1400%2C1050&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Yabusame Festival in Sakurai Shrine, \u6afb\u4e95\u795e\u793e\u306e\u6d41\u93d1\u99ac\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1050\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-179860\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fn_yabusame-festival-in-sakurai-shrine_2026_cl-001.jpg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fn_yabusame-festival-in-sakurai-shrine_2026_cl-001.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fn_yabusame-festival-in-sakurai-shrine_2026_cl-001.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fn_yabusame-festival-in-sakurai-shrine_2026_cl-001.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Oct 18, 2026 (Sun)<\/li>\n<li>10:30~<\/li>\n<li>Free viewing<\/li>\n<li>Sakurai Shrine<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/maps.app.goo.gl\/MeJmLxuHqdKtAjHN6\" target=\"_blank\">4227 Shimasakurai, Itoshima City, Fukuoka<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sakuraijinja.com\/event\/niinamesai\/\" target=\"_blank\">Website<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Itoshima\u2019s only yabusame horseback archery ritual has been held annually since 1653, with prayers for a good harvest and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30291,"featured_media":179860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-179990","event","type-event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-itoshima","event-type-festival","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/179990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/event"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}