Arrows

・Bamboo arrows (Ichimonji, Mugi-tsubu, Chiku-rin [arrows for Dosya]: Masayasu Sone)

・Aluminum arrows (shaft: Easton)

At that time, aluminum arrows made by Easton were already popular in western archery, meanwhile only bamboo arrows were used in Kyudo. Therefore, Sone Masayasu, one of the best arrow craftsmen (Yashi) at that time, tried his best to support Junji Miata's challenge for World Archery Championships 1967. He made bamboo arrows by himself from shafts, and also made aluminum arrows to cut a archery shaft (Easton) to a length suitable for Kyudo, attached with bird feathers.

Result of performance:

Bamboo arrows (3 types)

  1. Ichi-monji (shaft type of uniform shape, the most common type)
    • Hitting accuracy: the best ［among bamboo shafts］
    • Ability to fly long distance: not good
  2. Mugi-Tsubu ［Arrow for En-teki］(shaft type of ellipse shape, named "wheat grain") : 　
    • Hitting accuracy: not good　
    • Ability to fly long distance: the second best ［among bamboo shafts］
  3. Chikurin ［Arrow for Dosya］ (shaft type of circular cone)
    • Hitting accuracy: not good　
    • Ability to fly long distance: the best ［among bamboo shafts］
    • extremely difficult to shoot to keep the balance

Aluminum arrow (shaft: Easton)

  • Hitting accuracy: the best ［among all the arrows］
  • Ability to fly long distance: the best ［among all the arrows］

As for bamboo arrows, Mugi-tsubu and Chikurin, which are manufactured to have a long flight distance, flew well, but hitting accuracy was not good. Ichimonji hit the target well, but did not flew for such a long distance at 90m. There was a contradictory relationship between flight distance and target accuracy.

The bamboo arrows made by Mr. Sone were very excellent arrows of the time, but from the viewpoint of arrows used in the World Archery Championships, aluminum arrows had great advantage of performance, durability, weatherability, and uniformity. Therefore, Junji Miyata decide to use the aluminum arrows for the championships. Bird feathers lose their performance in rainy weather, so Junji Miyata decided to change to the plastic material used in archery.

Yugake (Gloves)

・Kata-boushi (Hard type of thumb finger cot)

・Yawaraka-boushi (Soft type of thumb finger cot)

Junji Miyata picked up Yawaraka-Boushit type by the process of elimination, in terms of hitting accuracy and weatherability.

Even the slightest mistake in a long-distance archery of 90m can be fatal, but kataboushi had the risk to hit the string when an archer releases the strings, which might change the direction of arrow. Junji Miyata chose the Yawaraka-Boushi type by process of elimination.

Later, Junji Miyata found the great advantage of Kataboushi in Kyudo shooting, and we will explain in the following article.

strings

・Asa - Tsuru ［ Hemp strings］

・Synthetic fiber strings

At that time, synthetic fiber strings were already popular in western archery, but only hemp strings were the mainstream in kyudo. So Junji Miyata made my own synthetic fiber strings for kyudo using Nylon / Dacron fibers. Even though it's not as hard as it is today, it's much harder than hemp string.

As for the strings, the strings made of synthetic fibers were superior in terms of durability. However, in terms of performance, hemp strings were very good though good shooting skills needed to avoid being cut. Junji MIyata used both type of strings in the championships.