Yumi (Japanese bow)

Timeline

1. c. 1000–1185Kyoto · KinkiIn the Heian period, court and samurai mounted-archery culture flourished; the yumi was made of a mulberry core, bamboo strips and sharkskin, over two meters long with the grip at the lower third, forming a distinctive shooting method and ceremonial system (the origin of kyūdō).
2. c. 1185–1281Hakata · KyushuThe Kamakura shogunate made mounted archery by gokenin its military core, with the yumi used together with ō-yoroi in mounted combat. In the Bun'ei and Kōan Mongol invasions, Kyūshū samurai shot at Mongol troops from behind stone walls with the yumi; its range and accuracy in close-range defense surpassed some of the Mongols' short bows.
3. c. 1300–1600Japanese archipelago · JapanFrom the Muromachi through the Warring States period, matchlocks and mass tactics rose and the yumi's share on the battlefield declined, but the various schools of archery (shahō) continued unbroken. In the Edo period kyūdō became a samurai accomplishment and ceremonial art, and it remains a symbol of Japanese traditional sport and culture today.