It turned into an annual contest at Sanjusangendo Temple with events that resembled archery marathons:
The Hyakui
Most target hits with 100 arrows.The Seni
Most target hits with 1000 arrows. The 11 year old boy who won the 1827 competition hit the target 995 times (at 121.7 meters).The Hiyakazu
The number of target hits in 12 hours. The 1774 winner hit the target with most of the 11,715 arrows he shot. That's an average of 16 arrows a minute for 12 hours with no break.The Oyakazu
The number of target hits in 24 hours. The 1686 winner hit the target with 8,133 of 13,053 arrows he shot.The Modern Competition
The modern competition is called Ohmato Taikai — it's a little less extreme. The contest takes place on the second Sunday of January. That's the day before Seijin No Hi (coming of age day). The contestants are all 20 years old (about 2000 archers participate each year). The targets are set 60 meters away.
The archers shoot in groups of 12. There are only 4 targets. Each archer has two arrows and two minutes. Archers that hit the target with both arrows go on to the next round — the days of 13,053 arrows per archer are long gone.
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