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Kyūjutsu
("art of archery") is the traditional Japanese martial art of wielding a bow ( yumi) as practiced by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Although the samurai are perhaps best known for their swordsmanship with a katana ('' kenjutsu''), kyūjutsu was actually considered a more vital skill for a significant portion of Japanese history. During the majority of the Kamakura period through the Muromachi period (c.1185–c.1568), the bow was almost exclusively the symbol of the professional warrior, and way of life of the warrior was referred to as . History The beginning of archery in Japan is, as elsewhere, pre-historical. The first images picturing the distinct Japanese asymmetrical longbow are from the Yayoi period (ca. 500 BC–300 AD). The first written document describing Japanese archery is the Chinese chronicle '' Weishu'' (魏書; dated around 297 AD), which tells how in the Japanese isles people use "a wooden bow that is short from the bottom and long from the top."Ya ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kasagake
Kasagake or Kasakake (笠懸, lit. "hat shooting") is a type of Japanese mounted archery. In contrast to yabusame, the types of targets are various and the archer shoots without stopping the horse. While yabusame has been played as a part of formal ceremonies, kasagake has developed as a game or practice of martial arts, focusing on technical elements of horse archery. History The word "kasagake" first appears in "Sadaie Assonn Ki" (定家朝臣記) by Minamoto no Sadaie in 1057 and "Shin Sarugō Ki" (新猿楽記) by Fujiwara no Akihira (989-1066)Murai, 1939 while legendary sayings states kasagake has been started by Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147-1199). At first, hats (ayaigasa) hung on azuchi were used as targets, later replaced by target specially made for kasagake, consists of wooden skeleton, cotton, wool or rice straws stuffing and leather surface, hung on wooden frames as in the picture above. In Kamakura period, "the three martial arts of mounted archery" (騎射三� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yumi
is the Japanese term for a bow. As used in English, refers more specifically to traditional Japanese asymmetrical bows, and includes the longer and the shorter used in the practice of and , or Japanese archery. The was an important weapon of the samurai warrior during the feudal period of Japan. It is typically shot with Japanese arrows known as . The most famous style of is an asymmetrically shaped long bow with a length of more than , characterized by the archer holding the part of the bow below the center to shoot the arrow. History Most of the excavated Jōmon period () bows are in length, while most of the Yayoi period () bows are in length. The bows in these periods were made from a single processed wood, and the bows with this structure were called and were used until the Nara period (710–794 CE). It is unknown when the asymmetrical came into use, but the first written record is found in the ''Book of Wei'', a Chinese historical manuscript dating to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yabusame
is a type of mounted archery in traditional Japanese archery. An archer on a running horse shoots three special "turnip-headed" arrows successively at three wooden targets. This style of archery has its origins at the beginning of the Kamakura period. Minamoto no Yoritomo became alarmed at the lack of archery skills his samurai possessed. He organized yabusame as a form of practice. Nowadays, the best places to see yabusame performed are at the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū in Kamakura and Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto (during Aoi Matsuri in early May). It is also performed in Samukawa and on the beach at Zushi, as well as other locations. History Japanese bows date back to prehistoric times – the Jōmon period. The long, unique asymmetrical bow style with the grip below the center emerged under the Yayoi culture (300 BC – 300 AD). Bows became the symbol of authority and power. The legendary first emperor of Japan, Emperor Jimmu, is always depicted carrying a bow. Some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archers Makiwara Straw Target (Kyujutsu) Page 9 By Katsushika Hokusai 1817
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity. A person who practices archery is typically called an archer, bowman, or toxophilite. History Origins and ancient archery The oldest known evidence of arrows (not found with surviving bows) comes from South African sites such as Sibudu Cave, where the remains of bone and stone arrowheads have been found dating approximately 72,000 to 60,000 years ago.Backwell L, d'Errico F, Wadley L.(2008). Middle Stone Age bone tools from the Howiesons Poort layers, Sibudu Cave, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35:1566–1580. Backwell L, Bradfield J, Carlson KJ, Jashashvili T, Wadley L, d'Errico F.(2018). The antiquity of bow-and-arrow technology: evidence from Middle St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law enforcement, self-defense, warfare, or suicide. In a broader context, weapons may be construed to include anything used to gain a tactical, strategic, material, or mental advantage over an adversary or enemy target. While ordinary objects such as rocks and bottles can be used as weapons, many objects are expressly designed for the purpose; these range from simple implements such as clubs and swords to complicated modern firearms, tanks, missiles and biological weapons. Something that has been repurposed, converted, or enhanced to become a weapon of war is termed ''weaponized'', such as a weaponized virus or weaponized laser. History The use of weapons has been a major driver of cultural evolution and human history up to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heki Danjō Masatsugu
was a warrior and the creator of the school of basic archery skills for footsoldiers. Heki Danjō's teaching started one of the prominent schools of ''kyūdō'', which is named '' Heki-ryū'' after him. Several ''Heki-ryū'' branches are taught actively even today. Heki Danjō lived in warlike times when it was considered honorable to be linked to famous warriors. For this reason there is no certainty to the connection between every Heki-ryū branch and the historical figure Heki Danjō. It is known however that Heki Danjō taught Yoshida Shigekata, who compiled the lessons in a scroll (''mokuroku''), which is still an important part of Heki-ryū's teaching. The founder of ''Heki-ryū'' ''Insai''-branch, Yoshida Genpachirō Shigeuji, wrote about Heki Danjō as a manifestation of the god of war Hachiman. History tells us little of his life. Heki Danjō was born in Yamato, became a famed archer in a battle, taught kyūjutsu and shortly before his death, he became a monk at Mount K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inuoumono
was a Japanese sport that involved mounted archers shooting at dogs. The dogs were released into a circular enclosure approximately 15m across, and mounted archers would fire upon them whilst riding around the perimeter. Originally intended as a military training exercise, dog-shooting became popular as a sport among the Japanese nobility during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods (1185-1573). During this time it was briefly banned during the rule of Emperor Go-Daigo (owing to his concern for the dogs); however, this ruling was overturned by the shōgun Ashikaga Takauji at the behest of his archery teacher Ogasawara Sadamune. The influential Ogasawara family were particular adherents of inuoumono; Sadamune's archery treatise ''Inuoumono mikuanbumi'' regarded it as fundamental to a warrior's training, and his great-grandson Mochinaga devoted five books to the subject. The arrows used in dog-shooting were usually rendered non-fatal, by being either padded or blunted. This modifica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mounted Archery
Mounted archery is a form of archery that involves shooting arrows while on horseback. A horse archer is a person who does mounted archery. Archery has occasionally been used from the backs of other riding animals. In large open areas, mounted archery was a highly successful technique for hunting, for protecting herds, and for war. It was a defining characteristic of the Eurasian nomads during antiquity and the medieval period, as well as the Iranian peoples such as the Alans, Sarmatians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Massagetae, Parthians, and Persians in Antiquity, and by the Hungarians, Mongols, Chinese, and Turkic peoples during the Middle Ages. The expansion of these cultures have had a great influence on other geographical regions including Eastern Europe, West Asia, and East Asia. In East Asia, horse archery came to be particularly honored in the samurai tradition of Japan, where horse archery is called Yabusame. The term mounted archer occurs in medieval English sources t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamakura Shogunate
The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Yoritomo after victory in the Genpei War and appointing himself as ''shōgun''. Yoritomo governed Japan as military dictator from the eastern city of Kamakura with the emperor of Japan and his Imperial Court in the official capital city of Heian-kyō (Kyoto) as figureheads. The Kamakura ''shōguns'' were members of the Minamoto clan until 1226, the Fujiwara clan until 1252, and the last six were minor princes of the imperial family.Nussbaum"Minamoto"at pp. 632–633. The Hōjō clan were the '' de facto'' rulers of Japan as '' shikken'' (regent) of the ''shōgun'' from 1203.Nussbaum"Fujiwara"at pp. 200–201. The Kamakura shogunate saw the Jōkyū War in 1221 and the Mongol invasions of Japan under Kublai Khan in 1274 and 1281. The Kamaku ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minamoto No Yoritomo
was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his death. Yoritomo was the son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and belonged to Seiwa Genji's prestigious Kawachi Genji family. After successfully maneuvering himself to the position of rightful heir of the Minamoto clan, he led his clan against the Taira clan, Taira from his capital in Kamakura, beginning the Genpei War in 1180. After five years of civil war, the Minamoto clan finally defeated the Taira in the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. Yoritomo established the supremacy of the samurai caste and the first shogunate (''bakufu'') which was to be centered around Kamakura, thus beginning the History of Japan#Feudal Japan, feudal age in Japan, which lasted until the 17th century. Early life Yoritomo was t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
