Heikki Mäenpää's video: Spirit of Samurai 2014 Helsinki- 1:29 sec

武士の世界 SPIRIT OF SAMURAI 2014 Helsinki -Tradition, Soul & History The Kansai Japan-Finland Society, Japan Airlines, City of Helsinki, the Finnish Equestrian Federation and the Embassy of Japan, Helsinki are jointly planning to organize a remarkable event, called the "Spirit of Samurai 2014". The events begin on Friday 11.4. at the Finnish National Museum with "Spirit of Budo" --exhibition. On Saturday 31.5. an ŌMATOSHIKI archery ceremony and "Chado --Way of Tea" tea art event will take place in Suomenlinna. The events culminate on Sunday 1.6. at 13.00 and 18.00 on Laakso hippodrome in two ceremonies of Yabusame, samurai mounted archery. A limited number of tickets free of charge will be available for public in May. Companies and associations have a possibility to bring their key customers and VIP stakeholders to the event. TRADITION 流鏑馬 YABUSAME -- Samurai Horseback Archery Sunday 1.6.2014 13:00 & 18:00 Laakso hippodrome, Helsinki Yabusame ceremony is one of the finest and oldest Japanese samurai martial arts, which goes back to Kamakura period (12th-13th Centuries). Archers of the Ogasawara family dressed in traditional samurai outfits shoot special arrows on three targets riding galloping horses.This is the first time the ceremonies are performed in the Nordic countries. 大的式 ŌMATOSHIKI --Archery Ceremony Saturday 31.5.2014 at 14.30 Suomenlinna, Helsinki Ōmatoshiki, an archery ceremony that lasts over an hour, is an important part of the samurai tradition. A group of samurais perform the ceremony without horses and according to an over thousand year old tradition. Ogasawara family has succeeded the tradition of the ceremony since the beginning of Minamoto Yoritomo's samurai shogunate. http://ogasawararyu.wiki.fc2.com/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E7%9A%84%E5%BC%8F http://homepage2.nifty.com/ogasawararyukamakura/page/event0105.html SOUL 茶道 CHADŌ - The Way of Tea Saturday 31.5.2014 at 13:00 & 16:00, Suomenlinna, Helsinki Japanese tea ceremonies at Suomenlinna and at Laakso Hippodrome reveal the Japanese soul. Traditionally tea ceremony was popular among the samurai and it developed along with samurai culture. Sen no Rikyu, Urasenke's first grand master was one of the tea instructors of Oda Nobunagan and Toyotomi Hideyoshi who promoted the unification of Japan. HISTORY 武道の精神 SPIRIT OF BUDŌ, THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF FINLAND 11.4.-8.6.2014 The exhibition introduces the history of Japanese martial arts -- from Bujutsu techniques to popular sports as well as physical exercises used for controlling body and soul (Budo). Both historical weapons, replicas and original bows and harnesses, and materials and photographs of popular sports and practices such as Kendo, Judo and Sumo are being displayed at the exhibition. The exhibition has been previously in India, Thailand, many European countries, Russia, Turkey, the United States, Canada and South America. Video: Harjula Production / Heikki Mäenpää & Production Team Music: Footsteps (Mäenpää) Permission for still pictures ja video clips: The Kansai Japan-Finland Society More information: www.spiritofsamurai.com