History of the Japanese Bow as an Ancient Weapon of Japan

History of the Japanese Bow, Ancient Weapons of Japan

In Japan, the image of a longbow with a lower part of the bow "gripped" has been found in hunting paintings depicted on a tongduo, which is said to have been made at the end of the Stone Age. The Japanese use of longbows is also recorded in the Chinese Wei Zhi Japanese Biography (first half of the 3rd century). From the point of view of ideology and culture, such as the Kojiki, the bow and yagura occupied a very important place as a walking costume that expressed authority, and it can be said that it was the main reason why the ritual of the bow and yagura was emphasized in the rituals of the court and the martial arts family in the later years.

The Japanese bow in the 4th and 5th centuries

Cultural exchanges between Japan and China took place around the 4th and 5th centuries, and Chinese culture had a great influence on Japanese culture after Emperor Eishin. There are a lot of Chinese literature about the bow, the Zhouli and Houhanshu, especially the idea of "archery righteousness" in the Riji (one of the five Confucian scriptures) had a great influence on the Japanese bow, which is also recorded at the beginning of the current Japanese Bow Doctrine Reader. The combination of the ancient Japanese idea of the virtue of the bow and the Chinese idea of the rite of archery, which is "to shoot as a gentleman's fight," led to the birth of the rite of archery, which is a ritual of the Japanese court.

The samurai era saw the birth of the culture of archery rites, which was soon combined with the inherent samurai culture of Japan. In the middle of the Heian period (10th century), the Fushitake bow, and in the late Heian period (12th century), the Sanbuta, the technology for making synthetic bows was introduced in China, and synthetic bows made of bamboo and wood were produced.

The Japanese bow in the 12th century

In the 12th century, when the Kamakura Shogunate was established by the Minamoto no Yoritomo Dynasty, the martial art of combining the bow and the horse (mounted archery) appeared as a physical and mental exercise for samurai, as well as training in combat techniques, and at that time, mounted archery competitions were prevalent in Japan, and the holding of such archeries was documented in the Kamakura period in the history book, "My Tsumagoi Mirror. Hunting was also prevalent in that era, and in the Heian period, the bow and arrow of the Bunsho became an ancient weapon used exclusively for combat.

The Japanese bow in the 14th century

From the turmoil of the Yoshino dynasty to the 14th century of the Muromachi period, great technological innovations in the art of bowhunting took place. During the era of the latter Emperor Daigo, Ogasawara Sadamune Tsunehide synthesized the bow techniques inherited from the martial society. The Ogasawara clan, which established the standard of bow and horsemanship etiquette, served as the teacher of bow and horsemanship etiquette for the Shogun's family until the Tokugawa period. In addition, a book on archery by Imagawa Ikutoshi, a general of the Muromachi period, called "Ikutoshi Okusashiki," contains a detailed record of the archery methods of that period.

The founder of the Hijiki-ryu, Hijiki-Bomb Shoji, was also from this era, and the technique was popularized as a practical bow technique. Masaji's shooting style was soon succeeded by Yoshida Shigenori, and was then divided into the Izumo and Yukiho schools. From the Yukiho to the Michiyuki school, and from the Izumo school to the Indo-western school, the Daizo school, and so on, there was a rapid advancement in bow skills due to many talented people. Moreover, Kisei of the Bamboo Grove Place founded the Bamboo Grove School, and later settled and developed in Owari and Kishu.

In this way, many schools were created during the 150 years from the end of the Muromachi period to the beginning of the Tokugawa period, from the 15th century to the 17th century. In this period, there were innovations in bow techniques, and in the martial arts book "Takatada Wenshu" written by Takatada, who served as the deputy of Kyoto Shoji in the Muromachi period, there is a record of the return bow shooting method, and there is a description of the technique of composing a curved bow made of bamboo and wood.

The Japanese bow in the 16th century

In the 16th century of Oda and Toyotomi, the era of the bow as a fighting implement ended with the introduction of the gun. After that, the purpose of the bow was to exercise the body and mind, and the techniques were gradually refined.

Japanese bow culture has been preserved

In the Edo period, when peace lasted, the bow and arrow were practiced as a "way" of "art". On the other hand, at the end of the Shogunate in the era of Western-style drills and rifles, the Edo Shogunate's dojo, where martial arts were taught, excluded bow training on the grounds that it was not a practical skill. However, it is also true that the practice of bow and horse was still prevalent among the lower ranked samurai.

Then, in 1895 (Meiji 28), the Dai Nippon Budokai, which was founded in Kyoto with the purpose of preserving and rewarding the ancient martial arts, included bow fighting. During the Taisho and Showa eras, Bowdo was adopted as a school education for secondary schools and above, and was used in regular classes and club activities. Then in 1941 (Showa 16), the Ministry of Education made Budo a physical training subject, and Budo was once again steered in the direction of being directly related to actual combat, and in November 1945 (Showa 20) the teaching of Budo was banned.

In July 1951 (Showa 26), an ultimatum from the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education allowed archery to be practiced in schools, and in 1967 (Showa 42), based on a circular from the Director General of the Sports Bureau, the Shotokan of Bow-Do was adopted as a major subject in schools of higher education. Archery in its new sense of educational and sports significance was recognized and established as a school sport. Under the guidance of new research in modern science and the new concept of Budo, a new culture of archery was developed and popularized while deepening the educational significance. To this end, Japan is constantly striving to make bow and arrow, which is a traditional culture, more accessible to a wider range of people.