Hello! It is nice to meet all of you again! It is the blog televising Japanese uniqueness: How Unique Japan!
This time, we would love to introduce Japanese ancient soccer, Kemari. I do not doubt that some readers could get a question like (What soccer game in ancient Japan?).
However, please take a look at the picture below.
In appearance, they enjoy kicking a ball at each other like lifting in soccer.
Although soccer originated in Great Britain, the game has its roots in ancient Japan. It was played among high-class citizens (like royalty) for recreation. Its history is quite long. A historical theory says the game already existed around 795 AD. At that time, Japan was in the Heian era (from 794 to 1185 AD).
The rules
The rule for Kemari is quite simple.
The players would kick the ball called Mari to another player, trying to make a high score (Counting how many kicks were continuously successful).
One of the penalties is missing the kick, of course. The other is not to kick the ball too high. It was approximately 2.5 times higher than the player’s height. If the ball flies over the calculation, the game should be no-counted.
The ball
The ball, Mari, is much smaller than the soccer balls. The diameter is about 19cm. The weight is around 100 to 110g.
Interestingly, there was no rule on which materials/ingredients make the ball official. However, it was usually from animal skin (deer and horse), and sometimes bamboo torn into thin fibers.
The color was monochromatic due to the ingredients. But it became beautiful like a piece of art with colored thread.
The yard
The yard is small. It is approximately 15 square meters in area and horizontal. No lines were creating the field. Instead, four kinds of trees were at each age of the square.
The planted trees are following the directions.
Northeast had a cherry. Southeast, it had a willow tree.
Southwest was a maple tree. Then, a pine tree was in the Northwest.
Fun fact (and high score)
There is one more rule that makes the game unique. Each player must shout their words in the correct order. There are three voices to say. First, (A Li!). The next is (Ya!). The last one is (Oh!).
The top score was from 1208. It was 2030 times!
To close
So, it is the ancient Japanese football, Kemari. We were impressed that such old Japanese people created a game similar to the most famous game in the world. However, it is not over yet. There are still many unique games in Japan.
If you are interested, please feel free to visit the front page of our blog.
Now, we have four categories on the page. They are about Japanese lifestyle, food, the Edo era, and religions.
Thank you for reading this article. See you for the new article.