In eighteenth-century Japan, learning to shoot with a bow and arrow was part of the educational curriculum for samurai boys such as Genta, the protagonist of the Shudō tsuya monogatari. Although no longer used on the battlefield, the bow was still an important part of the samurai cultural heritage, and its use and proper form was formalized within a number of schools and their branches (ryūha). Legendary archers lived in the popular imagination and archery games were enjoyed by Edo-period samurai and commoners alike. Bows also continued to be used on ceremonial occasions to ward off invisible enemies. While most studies have focused on the various ryūha with their grandmasters and official archery events, Shudō tsuya monogatari sheds light on the way in which archery also functioned as a social activity for young samurai.

The Military Art that Produced the Bushi

Although in today's media representations it is the sword that appears as the samurai's weapon par excellence, the method of fighting that featured most prominently in medieval warfare and served to consolidate the bushi 武士 (warriors) as a social group was, in fact, mounted archery. As Karl Friday observes, from the eighth to the tenth century, military institutions increasingly relied on self-funded and self-trained cavalry rather than large troops of infantry, with battles consisting mainly of duels and skirmishes between small groups in which foot soldiers (armed with bows and polearms) fought alongside mounted archers. Thus, only those with the time and resources required to master the sophisticated techniques of archery and horsemanship could count themselves among the warrior elite. During the Kamakura period (1185–1333), mounted archery continued to be the main form of battle, with the sword being drawn when supplies of arrows were exhausted or the terrain was unfit for horses. Based on historical records and archeological findings, this situation did not change significantly in the Muromachi period (1336–1392).

Edo-period samurai looked upon the heroes and battles from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries as the "golden age" of the warrior.

Once Upon a Time…

[Yoichi] Munetaka took out his humming-bulb*, fitted it, drew his bow to the full, and sent the arrow whizzing on its way. … Singing until the bay resounded, the arrow flew straight to the fan, thudded into it an inch from the rivet edge, and cut it loose. The humming-bulb went into the sea; the fan flew toward the heavens. For a time, the fan fluttered in the air; then it made an abrupt descent toward the sea, tossed and buffeted by the spring wind. The red fan with its golden orb floated on the white waves in the glittering rays of the setting sun; and as it rocked there, dancing up and down, the Heike in the offing beat their gunwales and applauded, and the Genji on the land struck their quivers and shouted.

This is the way that Heike monogatari 平家物語 (The Tale of the Heike, 14th c.) describes the exploits of the legendary archer Yoichi Munetaka, better known as Nasu no Yoichi. Riding his horse into the waves, his feat of shooting a fan that had been placed on a pole on an enemy boat was admired by friend and foe alike. This idealized episode, which took place during the Battle of Yashima (1185), has been invoked countless times in literature and visual culture to the present day, as in the Heike monogatari emaki 平家物語絵巻 (Edo period) and the anime Pom Poko.

Nasu no Yoichi drawing his bow. Kitao Shigemasa, Ehon musha waraji 絵本武者鞋 (Picture book of the warriors' sandals), 1787. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Namura Jōhaku, Buke chōhōki 武家重宝記 (Treasury for warriors), 1694. Waseda University Library.

* Arrows with a turnip-shaped whistle attached to their tip were known as humming bulb (lit. turnip [headed] arrow; kabura-ya 鏑矢).

Humming bulbs were used in ritual archery exchanges before commencing battle and on ceremonial occasions, when both the whistle of the kabura-ya and the twanging of the bowstring were thought to ward off evil.

Buke chōhōki (Treasury for warriors) illustrates the internal structure of the humming bulb. Chōhōki, which can be translated literally as "records of weighty treasures," were a type of household encyclopedia. The second volume of the five-volume Buke chōhōki is fully dedicated to archery. It introduces history, legends and rituals related to archery, as well as more practical information about the bow and different types of targets, arrow tips and fletching.

Archery Rituals and Formalized Practice

The Kamakura period saw the development of various ritualized and training-oriented forms of archery, which can be divided into the two main categories of standing archery (hosha 歩射) and mounted archery (kisha 馬射). Archery ceremonies had first been introduced from China but they acquired their own Japanese character at the Nara and Heian-period courts. In turn, warriors during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods adapted court rituals for their own use, such as the annual yumi-hajime 弓始 (first bow) ceremony that was held on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month. The ceremony involved a standing archery contest between groups of selected archers with glory and rewards bestowed on the victors. The ceremony fell into oblivion in the sixteenth century until Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune 徳川吉宗 (1684-1751) instigated its revival.

Various types of targets were invented for archery practice from a standing position as preparation for hunting and mounted archery, the most well-known being the "straw deer" (kusajishi 草鹿) and the "round target" (marumono 丸物 or 円物). The round target was composed of a wooden board, soft padding, and cow hide painted with a black circle.

The Muromachi period saw the appearance of the "small target" (komato 小的) for short distances, while the target hitherto used for long-distance archery (from around fifty meters) became known as the "large target" (ōmato 大的).

The small target was drum-like in shape and was made of cypress wood and paper, measuring 1 shaku 2 sun (about 30 cm) in diameter. The large target consisted of a round padded board of 5 shaku 2 sun (about 156 cm) in diameter. These targets were generally painted with three black concentric rings on a white background. One black dot, the so-called hoshimato 星的 (star target), and more complicated patterns were also used.

Kasagake, which was first practiced at the Heian court and became popular among the warrior elite in the medieval period, involved shooting at a target while galloping along a roped-off track. This form of archery takes its name from the sedge hats that were thought to have been used as the original targets, but these were later replaced by a large target consisting of a round wooden board covered with soft padding and cow hide that was suspended by ropes attached to a wooden frame, as depicted in the Obusuma Saburō emaki (Illustrated scroll of the tale of Obusuma Saburō) from the Kamakura period. Various distances and other types of targets were also used.

Author unknown, Hiden kisha no sho 秘伝騎射書 (The secrets of mounted archery), date unknown. Waseda University Library.

Yabusame was a highly ceremonial form of mounted archery that is still performed today at various Shinto shrines. As with kasagake, riders galloped along a track, but in this case they tried to hit three wooden targets on bamboo poles on their first pass and three small clay targets on their second.

This image shows a yabusame archer in ceremonial clothing on his way to the track, accompanied by attendants.

Inu-oumono was especially popular among the Muromachi-period warrior elite as a form of sporting entertainment as well as useful archery training with moving targets. It was revived in the first half of the seventeenth century after a century of decline.

Teams of mounted archers took it in turns to fire arrows at dogs released into a circular enclosure with points allotted according to an intricate system that assessed an archer's skill and speed in hitting the targets. Although blunt arrows were used, the sport undoubtedly caused the dogs to suffer and, unlike kasagake and yabusame, this form of archery practice did not survive into the twentieth century. The manuscript Inu-oumono hin'i kisei introduces "graceful" and systematic methods for shooting the dogs in inu-oumono, which suggests that less well-trained riders were at risk of ending up in a chaotic scramble.

Artist unknown, Inu-oumono hin'i kisei 犬追物品位騎制 (Graceful riding methods for dog chasing), 1811. Waseda University Library.

Martial Arts Schools and Training for Edo-period Samurai Boys

According to our manuscript, Genta went to the residences of three different teachers to receive instruction in the Confucian classics, Ogasawara etiquette, and archery. This was a typical arrangement for young mid-ranking samurai, and although not mentioned in the text, his education probably included other martial arts. Ogasawara-ryū 小笠原流 was a school of etiquette and martial arts that originated in the Kamakura period. The Ogasawara clan served Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199) and subsequent military leaders as teachers, although they were not yet recognized as a "school" (ryū 流) at that time. Various schools of archery developed in the early Edo period out of the teacher-pupil system in which secret knowledge and certificates of mastery were bestowed individually. This method of imparting martial knowledge was in turn influenced by the shogunate's disapproval of the indiscriminate sharing of martial intelligence, especially across the borders of domains. In the Edo period, most archery teachers belonged to the Heki-ryū 日置流 or one of its many branches (ha 派). Early modern books on the history of archery and documents related to the Heki-ryū ascribe not only the founding of the school but also the origin of all formalized standing archery traditions to Heki Danjō Masatsugu 日置弾正政次 (1443–1502). Histories and records of lineages that traced specific ryūha to their pre-Edo period past were used to bolster the cultural importance of archery and the status of its contemporary masters.

A portrait of Heki Masatsugu showing the correct shooting pose according to Heki-ryū teaching. Genta is depicted in a similar pose in our manuscript (see the title image). Takagi Masamoto, Nihon kogi 日本古義 (Ancient traditions of Japan), 1833. National Diet Library.

In Yonezawa, there are records of licensed teachers from the Heki-ryū and its branches, the Insai-ha 印西派 and the Sekka-ha 雪荷派. It is not clear to which of these branches Genta's teacher Ōhira belonged. From the late eighteenth century onward, many mid-ranking samurai boys would have frequented the newly built Yonezawa domain school for their instruction in the Confucian classics. Some domain schools provided facilities for martial arts training within the school compound, but in Yonezawa a martial arts training facility was established in 1775 that was separate from the school. In the absence of such a facility, students would go to their teacher's home for instruction or teachers would visit the homes of high-ranking families. In all cases, the organizing principle was the bond between teacher and pupil, with designated household heads expected to obtain licenses in one or several ryūha that were conventionally contracted by the family. The contents of military training differed depending on the status of one's household. All samurai had to learn how to use the sword and polearms (again, this training was formalized in schools and branches), but middle and upper-ranking samurai also learned horsemanship and archery. Although the use of guns was largely left to samurai of lowly foot-soldier (ashigaru 足軽) status, it was also standardized and practiced according to the teachings of various ryūha.

When commencing studies with an archery teacher, students typically had to sign a written oath, that they would respect the teachings of the ryū, train diligently, be loyal to their teacher (like a son to his father), and not defect to any other school. Instructions were largely imparted orally, which both was efficient (much like sports or music lessons today) and safeguarded its exclusive transmission. There were however also written documents, such as memo-like manuscripts that supported this oral instruction and treatises in which the principles and practices of a school were explained increasingly systematically and with a sense of officialdom. In each ryūha, a student would proceed through three to ten levels of training, receiving licenses and/or other written documents, such as a record of the school's successive masters, to confirm their level of attainment.

Two adolescent samurai shoot at a small target. Three adult men and a youth watch from a veranda, while a servant (front) stands ready to retrieve the arrows. In the manuscript, one of Genta’s admirers shows his devotion by carrying out the task of putting up the targets. Artist unknown, Tōsei tagami no ue 当世誰が身の上 (Life stories of people today), 1710. Rikkyo University Ikebukuro Library.

The Gamification of Archery

Genta practicing archery. Beinecke Library, Yale University.

That summer, shooting arrows at targets became such a rage that there was no one–young or old, man or woman–who did not take up archery. (...) At that time, even conversations in the evenings revolved around archery, leaving no room for any other topics. Indeed, it was as if you were barely considered human if you did not shoot a bow.

Although the increasingly stylized nature of archery training may have been somewhat dull, it is clear that archery enjoyed great popularity as a sport. We are told that Genta and his acquaintances spent their summer practicing komatomae 小的前 (shooting at a small target from a standing position), which was a typical pastime for young samurai of the middle and upper ranks. Archery had the advantage over other weapons that participants were unlikely to get injured and their ability to hit the target could easily be measured and compared.

Although Genta and his fellow archers may have attracted spectators as they competed at their target practice, it was tōshiya 通矢 or "continuous shooting" that came the closest to our concept of a sports competition. Its medieval predecessor dōsha 堂射 or "temple shooting" had been of a ceremonial nature and involved shooting a small number of arrows along the outside veranda of a temple building. Although using a similar architectural setting, the competitive form of tōshiya (or tōya 遠矢) was of a different order and focused on strength, speed, and endurance rather than elegance and correct form. Hugely popular in the seventeenth century, contests were held at the Sanjūsangendō Temple in Kyoto and from 1642 at a site modeled on this temple in Edo, Asakusa. Archers would shoot as many arrows as possible within a certain time period along a veranda (approx. 120 meters in length) while avoiding hitting the wall or the roof. In Kyoto, contestants vied for the title of "best archer in Japan" whereas the holder of the record in Asakusa was pronounced the "best archer in Edo." The warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉 (1537–1598) was among the early patrons of this display of warrior-like virility.

An archer takes part in a tōshiya competition at the Fukagawa Sanjūsangendō (a reconstruction of the temple in Asakusa) with two extra bows and an assortment of arrows beside him. A boy retrieves another batch of arrows. A large target has been placed at the end of the corridor, while spectators are kept at a safe distance behind a barrier. Utagawa Toyoharu, Fukagawa Sanjūsangendō tōshiya no zu 深川三十三門堂通矢之図 (Archery competition at the Sanjūsangendō Temple, Fukagawa), ca. 1717–1750. British Museum.

The Sanjūsangendō in Kyoto, corridor where the tōshiya competitions took place (left) and a closer view of one of the pillars, which are clad in iron to reduce damage from arrows (right). Photograph by author, July 2024.

Not everybody appreciated the ways in which young men indulged in archery. Hinatsu Shigetaka 日夏繁高 (1660–1731), the author of the well-known treatise Honchō bugei shōden 本朝武芸小伝 (A short biography of martial arts in our land, 1714), was appalled by their overt focus on competitions, record-setting, and "making good impressions on the eyes and ears of others," insisting that archers should focus on correct form and remember that this is the path to mastery.

Competitors in tōshiya would usually be financially supported by their domain as they required hundreds of arrows and several bows. Albeit on a much smaller scale, taking part in archery practice could also prove to be a financial burden for mid-ranking Yonezawa samurai. In our manuscript we read that Mizukoshi sold the pine tree in his garden to purchase a bow and that a large part of the two ryō that Gōhachi spent on his courtship of Genta was for bows and arrows. Trading bows and arrows appears to have been very much part of the social scene, although the author clearly disapproves of this practice. Samurai were not expected to engage in trade as the exchange of money was considered base and characteristic of the merchant class.

Every evening fourteen or fifteen people would gather at young Genta’s house to exchange bows and arrows and discuss selling them for money. Afterwards they would walk around the town clapping their hands just like merchants and farmers soliciting custom. Even though it is only natural that many people are practicing archery, they certainly shouldn’t behave like this.

Hirose Yaichi, Zukai shahō sanbusho 図解射法三部書 (On archery, in three volumes with illustrations), 1681. Tōhoku University Library.

Bows were made of bamboo and wood that had been carefully dried and hardened by repeated exposure to air and fire. The parts were laminated together and wrapped in rattan in which wedges were hammered to bend the bow into the correct shape. After being left in this position for a considerable length of time, the bow was unwrapped, carved, and shaved until it attained its desired strength and form. The entire process could take several years.

The illustration shows a bow-maker bending a bow on a haridai 張り台 (stretching block) in the opposite direction to the previous warp. When the bow was ready, a string would be attached that was usually made of twisted hemp and wrapped in washi 和紙 (paper) or thread and varnished with lacquer to extend its life. Depending on the client's preference, the finished bow might be decorated with lacquer or rattan.

For arrows, a smaller variety of bamboo known as yadake 矢竹 (lit. arrow bamboo) was dried, hardened by fire and shaved. Feathers from birds such as falcons, eagles, owls, and grey herons were used for the fletching. This double page from Buke chōhōki shows twenty-four of no less than fifty different types of fletching, so one can imagine that this may have been one of the subjects for lively discussion at the gatherings at Genta's house. The arrows had iron arrowheads, a whistling bulb, or both. In cases such as our protagonists' archery practice where the aim was not to kill, the arrows were furnished with a cap called hiratsuki 平付. Archers also needed to procure various additional items such as a quiver and hand protection.

Archery was an important part of the education and cultural heritage of the samurai who appear in Shudō tsuya monogatari 衆道通夜物語. Whereas most studies of Japanese archery have focused on schools, technique, and ceremonial use, this manuscript introduces us to the more informal social function of archery as a popular summer pastime for young samurai in early eighteenth-century Japan, in which bows and arrows were discussed, compared, traded, and even used as a means of gaining another man's affection.

Indoor Archery Games and Shooting Galleries

Edo-period commoners also enjoyed archery games that had their origins in the pastimes of Heian-period courtiers. Two popular indoor games were yōkyū 楊弓 (willow bow) and suzumekoyumi 雀小弓 (sparrow small bow), in which "sparrow" refers to the small size of the target, which was only 9 cm in diameter and suspended by threads. They used small bows (koyumi 小弓) of willow or rosewood that were only 80 cm in length and strings that were designed for the biwa, a type of Japanese lute. Contestants took aim from a sitting position, and when the arrow hit the target, the chime attached to it would sound. If it missed the mark, it would hit a cloth, or in case of a game of yōkyū, a drum stretched behind the target. Both contraptions feature in an Edo-period illustrated version of Teikin ōrai 庭訓往来, a copybook consisting of a fictional exchange of letters for polishing one's letter-writing skills. The illustrations were meant to shed light on the meaning of certain archaic terms, although yōkyū may well have been known to the book's audience, as it was a popular game for Edo-period commoners.

Teikin ōrai zusan 庭訓往来図賛 (Household precepts with annotated pictures), dated 1688. Tokyo Gakugei University Library.

The two images on the upper right show targets for the indoor games yōkyū and suzume koyumi. From right to left there are also representations of targets for kasagake and ogushi no e 小串の会 (various objects attached to a skewer), a straw deer and a round target (without the ropes and frame). The accompanying text explains that the straw deer target was invented by Minamoto no Yoritomo for hunting practice and that kasagake was invented by Emperor Jinmu. The final two pictures illustrate targets for the New Year's mounted archery event sansanku tebasami shiki 三々九手挟式 (the three-three-nine arrows in hand ceremony) and the "eight targets" (yatsumato 八的) consisting of a sagebari 下針 (needle suspended by a thread), a shihan 四半 (a small board), a tatōgami 畳紙 (a folded piece of paper used for blowing one's nose or jotting down a poem), a knife, a flowering branch, and a willow branch.

All that you needed to play yōkyū was the necessary equipment and a largish room, much in the same manner as putting up a dartboard today. However, the late eighteenth century also saw the appearance of public yōkyū shooting galleries (called yōkyūba 楊弓場 or dokyūba 土弓場 in the Kansai region and yaba 矢場 in Edo).

They were located in urban areas in temple precincts or the pleasure quarters, for example in the Asakusa area and near Shibadai Jingū Shrine in present-day Minato ward, but were banned by the shogunate in 1842 for being "immoral."

The reason they attracted the attention of the authorities was that visitors were assisted by so-called yatori-onna 矢取女 (lit. arrow-collecting women) who picked up and handed over the arrows, but their actual trade was unlicensed sex work.

In this print from a series of parodies of famous warriors, Nasu no Yoichi is depicted fooling around with a yatori-onna. His famous fan target is attached to a pole on a miniature boat. Making fun of Nasu no Yoichi could be equated with making fun of the samurai class, hence the title's claim that the prints are intended merely "for the amusement of children."

Despite the ban, yōkyū galleries continued to exist well into the Meiji period.

Utagawa Hiroshige, Dōgi musha zukushi: yaba ni Nasu no Yoichi 童戯武者尽矢場に那須の与一 (Nasu no Yoichi in a shooting gallery, from the series "A collection of warriors for the amusement of children"), 1854. Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

Beyond the narrow confines of Genta's world of rural warrior martial arts and archery practice, urban commoners thus also reveled in the stories of legendary archers and their own, not necessarily wholesome varieties of archery games.

To cite this page:

van Ewijk, Aafke. "Archery in Early Modern Japan." Blood, Tears, and Samurai Love: A Tragic Tale from Eighteenth-Century Japan on Japan Past & Present. 2024. https://japanpastandpresent.org/jp/projects/blood-tears-and-samurai-love/introduction/archery-in-early-modern-japan

For additional information on references and images, see our bibliography and image credits pages. Research for this page was generously funded by the Dutch Research Council.

Archery in Early Modern Japanby Aafke van Ewijk