While Friday had been gray and damp, Saturday once again brought the perfect weather for Japan Day.
With pleasant temperatures around 20° and a mix of clouds and sunshine,
some 650,000 visitors made their way
to experience Japanese culture in all its facets on the banks of the Rhine in Düsseldorf.

On the lawn by the state parliament building, the Neandertal Kyudo Club had once again set up its tent and demonstrated its archery skills.
Unfortunately, for safety reasons, shooting was only allowed at close range—on the makiwara—
which did require quite a bit of explanation for the spectators.
The nature of the demonstration reinforced many people’s preconception
that Japanese archery is primarily a mental exercise.
On the other hand, however, it provided a good starting point for conversations about the background and history of Kyudo.
The half-hour demonstration on the sports stage at the Kniebrücke provided an additional forum to reach interested people.

This year, “girl power” was in the spotlight, with male archers in the minority.
This allowed the women to clearly demonstrate that Budo no longer has to be a male-dominated field.
Our friends from Hakushinkai Düsseldorf,
with whom we’ve been collaborating for several years, provided some male reinforcement.
The Iaido demonstrations were an additional draw at our booth and added variety to the program.

All in all, it was a thoroughly successful event.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped organize and run the event!

Automatically translated by DeepL