Japanese bow

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Yumi () is the Japanese term for a bow. 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. The yumi was an important weapon of the samurai warrior during the feudal period of Japan.

Early Japanese used bows of various sizes but the majority were short with a center grip. By the 3rd century BC, the bow length had grown to nearly 2 meters and a war bow that had a draw weight of 80 to 150 lbs. contrary to the modern belief of 50 to 70 lbs. (see Robert G. Denig on the yumi). This bow was called the maruki yumi and was constructed from a small sapling or tree limb. It is unknown when the asymmetrical yumi came into use, but the first written record is in the Book of Wei, a Chinese historical manuscript from the 3rd century AD, which describes the people of the Japanese islands using "spears, shields, and wooden bows for arms; the wooden bows are made with the lower limbs short and the upper limbs long; and bamboo arrows with points of either iron or bone." The oldest asymmetrical yumi found to date was discovered in Nara and is estimated to be from the 5th century.

During the Heian period (794-1185) the length of the yumi was fixed at a little over two meters and the use of laminated construction was adopted from the Chinese. By the end of the 10th century the Japanese developed a two piece bamboo and wood laminated yumi. Over the next several hundred years the bow's construction evolved and by the 16th century the design was considered to be nearly perfect. The modern bamboo yumi is practically identical to the yumi of the 16th and 17th centuries.

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