culture | Bygone Ball Games
◀ Japanese men playing kemari , as depicted by painter Chikanobu Yoshu
▾ A kemari participant dressed in traditional Japanese court regalia holds a kemari ball at the Kyoto Imperial Palace
KEMARI
History The earliest historical reference to kemari , Japan ’ s unique ancestor of football , can be traced back to 644 CE during the Asuka period , and is thought to be the first Japanese game to achieve an advanced level of development .
Kemari was considered a high-class sport . Several emperors , such as Emperor Shirakawa and Emperor Goshirakawa , were said to have been fans of the game , with the latter ’ s grandson , Emperor Gotoba , even being a skilled kemari player . From the end of the 11th century to the start of the 12th century , numerous kemari meets were organised by the most privileged members of court societies like emperors and regents . Kemari was not merely limited to the social elite , however . Historical records of kemari state that the sport ’ s more skilled players tended to belong to the lower social classes and influenced the sport ’ s development the most when it first began to grow in popularity . However , kemari came to be viewed as a courtly , high-class sport due to the denying of certain privileges to players from lower classes , as well as the frequent appearances of the elite at the game , who eventually adapted and standardised the game according to their own ideologies .
The reputable social status of kemari was so coveted , in fact , that it augmented the power struggles amongst the three great 13th-century houses of kemari – the Mikohidari , the Namba , and the Asukai – all of which claimed sole
Wikipedia ownership of the sports ’ traditions . The Asukai house eventually emerged as the predominant authority in kemari around the 14th and 15th centuries , during which it began to distribute “ texts of transmission ” to those who formally studied kemari . Following the Ōnin War ( 1467 – 1477 ), these “ texts of transmission ” were scattered across Japan when the Asukai house distributed them to followers from various social classes all over the country . While people from lower social classes were allowed to play kemari , they faced various restrictions when doing so , with some even being internally exiled for violating said restrictions . Nevertheless , kemari continued to spread amongst city folk like urban merchants and priests , and was even played by the peasantry .
Following the Meiji Restoration in the 19th century , kemari began to decline , and today , it is no longer played as a mainstream sport . However , a kemari preservation society known as Shukiku Hozonkai was established in 1903 in order to safeguard the tradition , a duty which it has continued to carry out till today .
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