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弓道
Kyūdō is Japanese archery practised as a martial discipline. Training joins the shot to posture, breathing, movement and etiquette. Competitions, grading examinations and the teachings of different schools give it several overlapping settings.
The yumi is longer above the grip than below it. The archer normally holds it in the left hand and draws with the right, protected by a yugake glove. Bamboo-and-wood bows coexist with modern composite bows; arrows also use bamboo or metal shafts. Equipment is selected for the archer’s body and draw length. Federation competition rules give 221 cm as the standard bow length, with longer and shorter bows also permitted. The bow has no aiming sight.
The sequence is ashibumi, dōzukuri, yugamae, uchiokoshi, hikiwake, kai, hanare and zanshin: establish the stance and body, prepare the grip and draw, raise and open the bow, reach full extension, release, then maintain posture and attention. The divisions help teaching; the action remains connected beyond the arrow’s departure.
The federation describes kai as full extension after the draw, balanced left and right and extending in all directions. Hanare releases the arrow within that continuing extension. In zanshin, the archer maintains posture and keeps looking toward where the arrow has gone, before lowering the bow and returning to face forward.
Release changes the state of string, arrow and arms while posture and attention continue. The federation’s two illustrations show extension at full draw and the open-armed posture after release. Zanshin continues that follow-through rather than introducing an unrelated new pose.
The All Nippon Kyudo Federation sets out truth, goodness and beauty as ideals: correct shooting, composure and respect, and the union of form and spirit. Its principle seisha hicchū links correct shooting with hitting the target. Within this teaching, practice develops the quality of each shot and the archer’s conduct as well as accuracy.
A close-range dōjō separates the shooting line from the targets, with an arrow flight area between them. Targets stand against an earth backstop called the azuchi. The Nippon Budokan guide illustrates a 28 m layout. Entry, exit and arrow retrieval are coordinated with shooting, giving etiquette a practical role in sharing the range.
Individual and team events use different systems. Federation rules set close range at 28 m and long range at 60 m; a standard close-range hit-count event uses a 36 cm kasumi or hoshi target. Events may count hits, award target-zone points or assess shooting form and conduct. Grading examinations apply their own standards beyond a single hit.
The Nippon Budokan teaching guide progresses through cord or rubber practice bows, bow handling, nocking and release. A makiwara is a straw target used at close range to check posture and the eight stages. The guide treats this work as equally important as shooting at a distant target, with equipment checks and safe arrow retrieval throughout.
Federation regulations provide five kyū grades and ten dan grades, alongside the titles renshi, kyōshi and hanshi. Their standards address shooting form, technique and development. Examinations from first to sixth dan combine shooting with written knowledge; higher grades have other provisions. A tournament score therefore does not directly determine a grade.
Bows in Japan long predate modern kyūdō. Court shooting rites, mounted archery and shooting on foot served different purposes. Bamboo-and-wood composite bows developed through the Heian and medieval periods, while Ogasawara ceremonial traditions and Heki shooting lineages established distinct teachings. Modern kyūdō emerged from these accumulated practices.
Edo-period archery included martial training, ceremonial shooting and contests. Tōshiya at Kyoto’s Sanjūsangendō sent arrows along the side of the hall, creating particular demands for speed, endurance and equipment. The reinforced thumb of the shooting glove developed through such practice. Its conditions differed from today’s standard close-range event.
Kokugakuin University describes tōshiya along Sanjūsangendō’s west veranda, from south to north for about 120 metres, with a height limit of roughly 5 metres. A high arcing trajectory could not simply solve the distance problem: the arrow also had to pass through the low covered space.
The ōyakazu event counted arrows passing through over one day and night, joining speed and endurance to the demands on equipment. The federation’s history connects development of the glove’s reinforced thumb with this rapid, sustained shooting. Space and time constrained this historical contest, unlike today’s standard 28-metre close-range target event.
The end of the samurai order changed archery’s social base. The Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, founded in 1895, promoted martial disciplines; schools and clubs expanded practice in the Taishō and Shōwa periods. Discussions in 1933–34 produced standardized guidelines. From 1941, school martial arts were directed toward wartime physical training.
School martial-arts instruction was prohibited in November 1945. A new national kyūdō federation formed in 1949; school practice was permitted in 1951, the first Kyūdō Manual appeared in 1953, and kyūdō gained recognition in high-school physical education in 1967. The International Kyudo Federation was founded in 2006. Schools, local dōjō and lineages continue alongside national and international bodies.
It sits below the bow’s midpoint, leaving a longer upper limb.
Zanshin: maintaining posture and attention.
28 metres.
No. Form, movement and level of practice also matter.
In 1951.
Posture, gaze toward the arrow’s destination and attention continue before the bow is lowered.
Arrows had to pass through a long, low covered space, with successful passages counted over one day and night.
