Kemari

Kemari is a fun ball game.

People play it together. They try to keep a ball up. You cannot use your hands. Use your feet or your head instead.

The ball is made of deer skin. It is stuffed with grain to shape it. Players wear special clothes and hats. They play at shrines to keep the game alive. It is a very old game from Japan.

Kemari is a special ball game from Japan.

It is not a contest. Players do not try to win. Instead, they work together. They want to keep one ball in the air. This ball is called a mari.

You cannot use your arms or hands. Players use their feet, knees, or heads. A person who kicks the ball is a mariashi. A good mariashi uses a soft touch. This helps the next person catch it.

The mari is made of deerskin. Makers use barley grains to help shape it. They sew the skin together with horse skin.

Players wear old styles of clothing. They wear a robe called kariginu. They also wear a black hat. This style comes from the Heian period. Long ago, nobles and samurai played this game. Today, people play it at Shinto shrines. It is a seasonal event in the Kansai region. It is a way to keep old traditions alive.

Kemari is a beautiful and cooperative ball game from Japan.

Unlike many sports, it is not a competition. Players do not try to beat one another. Instead, they work as a team to keep one ball in the air. This ball is called a mari. Players use their feet, knees, heads, or backs to keep it aloft. They must never use their arms or hands. The person who kicks the ball is called a mariashi. A skilled mariashi uses a very soft touch. This makes it easy for the next player to control the ball.

Making the mari is a very careful process. The ball is made from deerskin. Makers put the hair on the inside of the skin. The smooth hide stays on the outside. To give the ball its shape, they stuff it with barley grains. Once the hide is set, they remove the grains. Then, they sew the ball together using horse skin.

The game is played on a flat area. This space is about 6 to 7 meters square. Modern players wear special clothes called kariginu. These robes and crow hats were fashionable in the old Heian period.

This game has a very long and interesting history. It may have started from a Chinese sport called cuju. Some records from the year 644 mention a ball game. This might be the earliest sign of kemari. In the Heian period, it became a favorite for nobles. Famous masters like Fujiwara no Narimichi became well known. He even visited a shrine 50 times to improve his skills. He could perform a feat called kakari. This is a way to keep the ball up using only the heel.

As time passed, the game moved to new groups of people. During the Kamakura period, the samurai class began to play. It became a structured art form with set rules. In the Muromachi period, samurai studied kemari along with poetry and tea. The game declined for a while when sumo became popular. However, it became popular again during the Edo period. This was when the chōnin class in the Kansai region played it. In 1903, an association was formed to keep the tradition alive. This happened because Emperor Meiji wanted to protect Japanese culture.

Today, kemari is a special seasonal event. You can see it played at many Shinto shrines. These include Shimogamo Shrine and Tanzan Shrine. People also play it at Shiramine Shrine and Hirano Shrine. There is even a deity at Shiramine Shrine who is the kami of the mari. This spirit is respected by many people who play football today. Even former U.S. President George H. W. Bush played the game. It remains a wonderful way to connect with Japan's past.

Kemari is a traditional Japanese ball game that focuses on cooperation rather than competition.

Unlike most modern sports, players do not try to defeat an opponent. Instead, a group of players works together to keep a single ball in the air for as long as possible. This shared goal requires teamwork and careful coordination among all participants. The game is considered a structured art form that emphasizes skill and grace. It remains a significant cultural practice in Japan today.

The game is played on a flat ground area measuring about 6 to 7 meters squared.

Players must use their bodies to keep the ball aloft without using their arms or hands. They may use their feet, knees, heads, backs, or sometimes their elbows. The person responsible for kicking the ball is known as the mariashi. A skilled mariashi does not just kick the ball hard. Instead, they use a soft touch to serve the ball. This makes it much easier for the next player to control the mari and keep the game going.

The ball used in the game is called a mari.

Creating a mari is a precise and careful process involving several different materials. First, makers use deerskin to construct the ball. They place the hair side of the skin facing inward and the smooth hide on the outside. To achieve the correct shape, the skin is stuffed with barley grains. Once the hide has set into its spherical shape, the grains are removed. Finally, the ball is sewn together using the skin of a horse.

Kemari has a long history that may trace back to a Chinese sport called cuju. Some historians look to the year 644 as a possible starting point. Records from the Nihon Shoki describe a ball game played by Prince Naka-no-Ōe and Fujiwara no Kamatari. However, some scholars dispute this because the game might have used canes like field hockey. The earliest reliable written evidence of the word kemari appears in Heian period records. These records note that games were played as early as May 701.

During the Heian period, kemari became a popular pastime for the nobility.

Famous masters emerged during this time, such as Fujiwara no Narimichi. He was so dedicated to the game that he visited Kumano Hongū Taisha more than 50 times to pray for better skills. He was known for a specific technique called kakari, which involves keeping the ball up using the heel. By the Kamakura period, the game spread to the samurai class. This era saw the creation of new rules and equipment, turning kemari into a formal art form.

As centuries passed, the social groups playing kemari continued to change. During the Muromachi period, the samurai studied kemari alongside waka poetry and the Japanese tea ceremony. While the popularity of sumo caused kemari to decline during the Sengoku period, it saw a revival during the Edo period. During this time, the chōnin, or townspeople class, played the game in the Kansai region. In 1903, an association was established to preserve the tradition. This was supported by an imperial grant because Emperor Meiji wanted to protect traditional Japanese culture from rapid modernization.

Today, kemari is performed as a seasonal event at various Shinto shrines. You can observe matches at Shimogamo Shrine, Tanzan Shrine, and Shiramine Shrine. At Shiramine Shrine, there is a deity enshrined in an auxiliary shrine who is the kami, or spirit, of the mari. This connection to the ball is respected by many modern athletes, including association football players. The game even gained international attention when former U.S. President George H. W. Bush played it during a visit to Japan. It continues to serve as a living link to Japan's ancient courtly traditions.