A traditional acrobatic martial art passed down through the ages

Bo no te is a rural form of folk choreographed martial arts where two participants swing bows or other weapons at each other while ducking and weaving to avoid the other's advances. The art is practiced at village festivals and has been passed down among various communities in the prefecture of Aichi.
Tanuki Town in Nishio City practices the Kamata style and began at the end of the Edo period. A local, famous practitioner is said to have entered a dojo once located in what is now Toyota City, where he received an inventory of the bows there, bringing the custom back home.
Currently, training sessions continue to be held as one generation passes the custom to the next. On the third Sunday of October every year, Tanuki Shimmeisha Shrine holds a bo no te festival , where the practitioners offer performances designated a prefectural intangible folk cultural property.