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saiyidah-atikah-blog · 8 years ago

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Final Project !!

For the final project, we are assigned to do some findings on Japanese culture including animes, games, lifestyle, technologies and bussiness. My group have choosen games category and we smaller the scope into Japanese traditional games. We have decided to do some findings on Kemari.

Kemari, Japanese Classical Kick-Ball Play

The Kemari (蹴鞠) is one of the traditional type of football game in Japan. Eight or six players wearing a unique costume form a circle on the court. They kick a deerskin ball to one another cooperatively without touching the ground. This game can be played by all age group irrespective of their gender and social rank.

History

Once upon a time, the Kemari was a tradition of Chinese people. It entered Japan along with Buddhism in 7th century. Ever since the introduction of Kemari in Japan, it has developed in a unique style. It is well known that the Taika Reforms (645 AD) was accomplished by Prince Nakano Oe and Kamatari Fujiwara who become close friends through Kemari. In the Kamakura Period (12-14th century), Kemari was sophisticated in ritual procedures and styles among nobles. According to historical records, the Emperors, nobles, samurais, priests enjoyed Kemari and some of them were admired as a good player. The Kemari was also popular in the public masses until the Edo period.

After the Meiji Restoration in the 19th century, Kemari was obviously declined because of the western influence in the society. But, Emperor Meiji was concerned more about state affairs and he ordered some nobles in Kyoto to preserve Kemari. As a result, in 1903, Shu-kiku Hozonkai (Kemari Preservation Society, 蹴鞠保存会) was established by the funds of Emperor Meiji. Nowadays, The Kemari Preservation Society is solely responsible for Kemari tradition.

Pitch

Kemari is played in a 15 m square area on a flat and good drainage ground so called mariniwa (鞠庭), mariba (鞠場), and kakari (懸かり). Usually, a pine, a cherry, a willow, and a maple tree (shikiboku, 式木) are planted at the corners of the square. The deities are believed to dwell in each of the trees.

Mari

The ball (mari, 鞠) consists of two circled sheets of deerskin. The sheets are sewn with the hair facing inside using horse leather. The ball is stuffed with grains from a small hole to give the shape and is put on makeup with white lead. After the shape is set, the grains are removed from the ball, and then sewn up the hole. The ball prepared in this way is very light (100-150 g) and fragile.

Members

Generally, the game (za, 座) is played with 8 or 6 players (mariashi, 鞠足). The players form a circle. In the case of the south facing court, the first four players, who are at the core of the game, stands to northwest, southeast, northeast, and southwest and in front of the trees, respectively. The rest of players called tsume (詰) assist with the game.

The dress used by players is a unique costume for Kemari such as "Eboshi" (烏帽子) cap (only for men), "Mari-suikan" (鞠水干) jacket, "Mari-hakama" (鞠袴) divided skirt, "Kamo-kutsu" (鴨沓) shoes, although they used to wear an ancient formal dress in the past olden days. There are various categories having different color, pattern, and materials, depending on the player’s class.

Rules

The players enter the court by turns from the high rank. After the all players try to kick the ball, the player of the highest rank (noki, 軒) kicks off with the game. The players allow moving freely to follow the ball, but they should return to their original positions whenever play is interrupted. The ball is only kicked with the instep of the right foot just before the fall on the ground. When the first player catches the ball, the game is said to be over. The players go back to their seats by turns from the high rank. The period of the game is not fixed. But it usually takes about 15-20 minutes.

How many times a player can kick a ball before pass is a less important issue, however, three times kick is considered most appropriate. The players should not bend their feet, back, and arm and should not raise their right foot showing the sole of the foot. When a player kicks the ball, he calls "Ari", "Ya", or "Oh." These are the names of the deities (春陽花, 夏安林, 秋園, respectively) who dwell in each of the tree. Actually, the players coordinate their movements with a variety of the calls.

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