Japanese archery practitioners like its elegance

 

Cultural News, November 2006

 

 

From left, Aaron Fay, Leslie Koyama and Robert Parker are practicing under the instruction of Hirokazu Kosaka, right side, chairman of Nanka Kyudo Kai in the Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute. (Cultural News Photo)

 

By Takeshi Nakayama

 

PASADENA, California – On a recent Saturday night at the Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute, a dedicated group of enthusiasts gathers for a regular practice session of the little-known martial art of kyudo (Japanese archery), conducted by Hirokazu Kosaka, chairman of Nanka Kyudo Kai.

 

    Kosaka, a former priest at Koyasan Buddhist Temple in Little Tokyo from 1975-80, starts off the class with meditation, followed by recitation of a Buddhist chant.

 

    Then, Rick Beal, Nanka Kyudo-kai president, joins two advanced archers to begin the practice. Each archer takes deliberate aim with 7-1/2-foot-long bow and shoots at the target from close range. The rest of the class, in kyudo attire--white blouses, black skirt-pants and white tabi (footwear)--follows their lead.

 

    Kyudo first came to Los Angles, with scattered practitioners, as early as 1908.  The Los Angeles Kyudo Kai was originally formed by Japanese immigrants as early as 1916.  The Los Angeles Kyudo Kai was resurrected by Kosaka, and Rev. Koen Mishima, in 1975.   There are currently 78 members in the Nanka Kyudo Kai which was formed, by Rick Beal, with the permission of Kosaka, to augment the Los Angles Kyudo Kai and their growing membership throughout the Southland

 

    Kosaka, who teaches at the Pasadena JCI and also at Angels Gate in San Pedro, much closer to his home in Torrance, says the membership is evenly split between those of Japanese descent and non-Japanese, and between male and female. The 16 students who show up this Saturday night include persons of Japanese, mixed Japanese and American, Caucasian and Hispanic descent.

 

    Kosaka concedes kyudo is a costly hobby. The bows each cost as much as $1,000, the arrows around $500, and the most expensive gloves up to $1,500. The archer’s attire may cost about $50, but formal traditional attire can cost $500.

 

    “We try to have a fund, and we try to get monetary donations from different sources, and we get support from Japan too,” Kosaka says. “I know it’s expensive, but we share. You don’t have to get the best of the best.”

 

   Kosaka, 58, artistic director at Japanese American Cultural and Community Center and curator for the Doizaki Gallery in Little Tokyo, was first attracted to kyudo as a young child.  “My father took me to Tanabe and I saw my first shooting at the shrine,” recalls the native of Wakayama Prefecture in Japan. “I think that really impressed me how beautiful it was. ... It was something I wanted to do.”

 

     Kosaka says he hopes to practice kyudo “probably for the rest of my life if I can. It’s not about bow and arrow. It’s about trying to achieve oneness with self.”

 

     Archery enthusiast Dr. George Nakashima, 53, a La Canada resident who has been practicing kyudo for about 10 years, discloses, “I used to do judo and iaido (swords) before getting into kyudo. Of all the martial arts I’ve done, kyudo is the most elegant, the most refined.”

 

    “Kosaka Sensei adds another dimension because of his knowledge of Japanese culture,” says the Hawaii-born pediatrician. “I’m a fourth generation Japanese American, and it feels like getting back to basic Japanese culture.”

 

    Nakashima practices at least five times a week and hopes to keep doing kyudo “until I can’t do it any more. I enjoy what I’m doing.”

 

    Leslie Koyama of Covina, daughter of a Japanese Canadian mother and native Japanese father, has been practicing kyudo for three-and-a-half years. “It really makes me feel good,” says the civil engineer. “I shoot quite a bit during the week and get rid of all the stress from work. I’m outside in beautiful weather, and the people are really nice.”

 

    Koyama practices every day of the week, either at Rancho Park in West Los Angeles, Angels Gate, Pasadena, Rancho Park, or UC Irvine.

 

    Trinidad Campbell, a resident of Silver Lake in Los Angeles, is from Argentina. An architect and contractor, she has been in the U.S. for 15 years, and has been practicing kyudo for five years.

 

    “I read a book, ‘Zen and the Art of Archery,’ years ago and that raised my curiosity,” she says. “I get a lot of enjoyment out of kyudo. It’s a wonderful exercise for the mind and body. It teaches us awareness, mindfulness and being one with everything.”

 

    Sarah Robertson, 15, a La Canada High School sophomore who lived in Japan for six years, has been taking kyudo for about a year. “We did it back in Japan because my mom  -- she’s Japanese -- thought it would be fun to do something more Japanese-y, and then we started here about a month ago. I like archery because it’s not really fast paced ... You just concentrate and it’s really easy and nice.”

 

    Her sister Emily, 17, a La Canada High senior, is shooting a documentary on kyudo as a school project, because “I want to share things with everybody and show them how cool is it. It’s a great way to show off to my friends that I do Japanese archery. It’s really a lot of fun.”

 

     Hiroshima-born Torrance resident Toshitsugu Fujimura, 61, previously participated in judo and kendo (fencing) but turned to kyudo last June because, “teenagers in kendo with better reflexes make it tough for me,” he explains. “Still, I love Japanese budo (martial arts), so I picked kyudo. It’s so quiet, with no opponent. It’s just the yumi (bow) and arrow and myself. That’s what I like.”

 

     Beal, 48, of South Pasadena, has been studying martial arts since he was 6 years old; he began his study of kyudo with Kosaka in 1984.  Kyudo’s attraction is that “it makes whole life more clear, it’s a true mirror of your inner self,” he emphasizes. “There’s no lying in kyudo…Arrow either flies straight or it doesn’t.” The difference between kyudo and other archery disciplines, the lay Zen Buddhist priest explains, is that “the main objective in most systems is to hit the bulls eye as much as possible. But in kyudo the target is within us. We have two different targets—one is inside and one is outside. Our main target is the inside reflected outside”

 

    For more information about Nanka Kyudo Kai, visit www.nankakyudokai.org.

 

    Takeshi Nakayama is a free-lance journalist who lives in Walnut, Calif. He has written articles for the Nikkei West, Nichi Bei Times, Gardena Valley News and many other publications.