Japanese Longbow
Traditionally japanese longbow was made from laminated bamboo wood and leather.
Japanese longbow. Its length ranges from 212 cm 245 cm 6 ft 11 in 8 ft. By the 16th century japanese longbow was said to be perfect in terms of design. The yumi is easily the world s longest bow. The changing of society and the military class taking power at the end of the first millennium created a requirement for education in archery this led to the birth of the first kyujutsu ryūha style the henmi.
Compared to the longbow this is pretty amazing as the longbow is already longer than many archers are tall. The beginning of archery in japan is pre historical. Yumi 弓 is the japanese term for a bow. The legendary skill of the mounted samurai archery was due to hours of practice in which archery became a skill an art and a form of religious practice.
Modern use of the yumi bow is known as kyudo or way of the bow. The english longbow and japanese yumi differ greatly in their materials and construction. 500 bc 300 ad. The yumi or the japanese archery bow is known as an asymmetric and recurved longbow that has a laminated construction.
The japanese yumi on the other hand incorporates several layers of wood and bamboo bound together. As used in english yumi refers more specifically to traditional japanese asymmetrical bows and includes the longer daikyū 大弓 and the shorter hankyū 半弓 used in the practice of kyūdō and kyūjutsu or japanese archery. It is not only the length that makes the yumi special though. The first images picturing the distinct japanese asymmetrical longbow are from the yayoi period c.
The samurai were mounted warriors whose primary weapon was the yumi bow. An english longbow is a selfbow comprised of a single stave of wood typically yew. The bow is recurved because once unstrung its shape appears reversed like when the bow is strung. It is referred to as asymmetric due to its nigiri that separates the lower and upper portion of the bow.
The bow and arrow have a long history in japan. It was only when hunting that archery would be conducted at a gallop a martial art performed nowadays at festivals under the name of yabusame.