The mikado's empire (1894) (14804178323)

is an

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

sport in East Asia with some similarities to

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

. It also goes by the name of gyeokgu in Korea () since the Hanzi character 擊 () is transliterated as: ''gyeok'' or and carries the same meaning as the , which translates as: ''to beat, to strike,'' or ''to hit.'' As one might expect, translates to ''ball.''

History

Originally from China, dakyu was played in Japan as early as the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

, making its way there via the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. It remained popular amongst the aristocracy until the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

, when it gradually died out (the last recorded game being in 986). In the eighteenth century the game reappeared, largely due to support from

Tokugawa Yoshimune was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lineage Yoshimune ...

. By this time it had evolved from a polo-like game (using mallets) to something more akin to mounted

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

. During this period, dakyu was considered a corollary to military training (working the skills needed to wield a spear from horseback). This aspect was downplayed in the

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

, when the game again lost favour; today, it survives only as a cultural asset.

Gameplay

Dakyu (ball game), 16th century, Tokyo National Museum

Dakyu was played both on foot and on horseback, but the equestrian version was more popular among the aristocracy and was thus better documented. Rules vary, but two main forms survive to the present day. Both involve two teams of riders (designated by the colours red and white) attempting to project a number of balls into a goal. This goal, originally a hoop placed on the ground, is now more commonly a circular hole on a wall.

''Kagemiryu'' style

In Kagemiryu or Hachinohe style play, which dates from the eighteenth century, the teams are made up of four riders each. The players race to propel the 30 cm diameter balls of their colour into the four raised goals (two for each side), shooting from a preset distance of between 18 and 27 metres from the goal. A successful goal is signalled by percussion; drums for the white team, gongs for the red. The winning team is the first to get all of their balls into the goals.

''Yamagata'' style

In the Yamagata or Imperial style of play, shorter sticks (at only 1m, less than half the length of those used in the Hachinohe style) are used, and both teams shoot for a single goal. The ball is also smaller, being only a few centimetres in diameter. Five balls are used in Yamagata style games, and eleven in Imperial games. When one side has successfully got all of its balls into the goal, a final ball called the ''agemari'' is put into play - whichever team then scores with the agemari then wins the game. This aspect of play has drawn comparisons with the game of

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...

References

External links

{{Commonscat
Dakyu (Ancient Japanese polo)
- from the Imperial Household Agency of Japan Sport in Japan Equestrian sports Team sports