A dog-chasing event at which warriors on horseback scored points by shooting padded arrows at a running dog. The subject was popularly represented in art from the Muromachi to early Edo periods.
The dog-chasing event originated in the Kamakura period during the reign of Emperor Go-Horikawa 後堀河 (r. 1222-32) and became very popular in the Muromachi period. Although the sport was supposedly banned during the Ōnin 応仁 Wars (1467-77), it did not cease altogether, but does not appear in any records until the first half of the 17th century (Genna 元和 era, 1615-23) when the sport was revived by the powerful Shimazu 島津 family, the lords of Satsuma 薩摩 (Kagoshima Prefecture).
The event typically took place in the center of an open riding ground where two concentric rings were formed with ropes. The warriors were divided into teams, and the teams waited outside the larger circle until the dogs were released from the smaller circle. Each archer had three padded arrows and his skill and accuracy was judged according to the length of the chase and the location of a hit.
The oldest events are recorded on a copy of screen paintings formerly in Kannonjijō 観音寺城 by Tosa Mitsushige 土佐光茂 (also read Mitsumochi, 1496-c.1559). It is likely that inuoumono was still popular at this time and that the artist must have seen the sport for himself. There are many works by the artists of the Kano school *Kano-ha 狩野派, including the screens attributed to Kano Sanraku 狩野山楽 (1559-1635, Tokiwayama bunko 常盤山文庫, Kanagawa Prefecture).
The folding screen compositions of the early 17th century typically depict the mounted archers around the concentric ropes, watching or chasing a dog. The brilliant colors and detailed figures are set against a gold leaf background. In later paintings, increased attention to the various gestures, activities, and clothing of the commoners looking on is evident, corresponding to the increased popularity of genre painting of the early modern period. See *kinsei shoki fūzokuga 近世初期風俗画.