Hello everyone, When I was a kid, my dad told me about the reduction of manpower in traditional trades due to the industrialization and modernization of Japanese society. Traditional products started to become outdated and forgotten. #SamuraiBow#SamuraiArchery#KyoYumiBows
However, there are still young people who dedicate their entire careers to preserving these traditions. We want to honor them as much as we can. Therefore, I decided to create a series of video shows about them and their work, using footage from my friends and myself.
Today’s video will be even more captivating because I have edited the script, rewritten the content, recorded new voices, added new effects, music, and footage to create something truly unique. This new creation is titled: "The Kanjuro Craftsmen Have Made Bows for Samurai and the Nobility for Over Four Centuries."
This time, our main character is a bow craftsman: Shibata Munehiro (柴田 宗博さん) from Kyoto Prefecture, born in 1984. His teacher and father, the 21st generation bow craftsman, Shibata Kanjuro (柴田 勘十郎さん), has been his guide. From an early age, Munehiro watched his father work and aspired to become a bow craftsman. At around 23 years old, he became his father's disciple. He is working hard to acquire the necessary skills while striving to uphold the long-standing tradition. When his father retires, Munehiro will inherit his name and become the 22nd Kanjuro to lead the household.
► Where to Buy & More Information Shibata Kanjuro Bow Shop (柴田勘十郎弓店) Address: Japan, 〒600-8048 Kyoto, Shimogyo Ward, 御幸町通万寿寺上る須浜町657 Phone: +81 75-351-1491 Facebook: / 417613494940096
Stay tuned for more insights into samurai bows, samurai archery, Kyo Yumi bows, and the art of making Japanese longbows. We will explore samurai bow and arrow making, samurai bow release techniques, kyudo bow making, and the incredible craftsmanship seen in Japanese kyudo bows.
The history of the bow and arrow has been developed along with the history of humanity for a long time.
In the past, it was used as a stunning battle tool.
Along with the era it is being used for hunting needs or as a weapon in sacred rituals.
It was developed from old road to the present, the true purpose is training the mind and body through the bow.
To Japan, where bows made in Kyoto are known as Kyo-yumi.
250 years ago, there were around 50 bowmakers working in the Gokomachi area of Kyoto city, producing bows for samurai and the nobility.
There is now only one such household in Kyoto and it belongs to Shibata Kanjudo.
Shibata's son, Ryun-hiro has worked with his father for as long as he can remember.
Ryun-hiro, the eldest son of the Shibata Kanjudo-yumi shop, who inherits the process of Kyo-yumi from generation to generation for about half a century.
The origin of the Kyo-yumi dates back to the Warring States period, and the beginning was made by Shibata Kanjudo, the first archer who served in the Shimazu clan in 1534.
It is also said that in the Honnoji incident, there is a legend that the bow drawn by Oda Nobunaga toward the army of Akechi Mitsuhide was Shibata's bow.
The tradition of the Shibata family has a history of about 500 years, now there is only one such household in Kyoto.
He grew up watching his father's work from an early age, and was conscious of becoming an bow craftsman in the future.
When he was about 23 years old, he became a disciple of his father.
When his father retires, Ryun-hiro will inherit his name, and become the 22nd Kanjudo to head the household.
There is a long tradition, and even in modern times, the Japanese bow used in Kyudo and Kyujutsu is also more than 2 meters in length, the largest size in the world.
Kiyo-yumi are famous for their strength, resilience and elegance, is said to have a strong attractive while being supple and a sharp sharpness.
The area's high humidity and extremes in temperature produce a variety of bamboo, that is small in circumference but has a highly dense fiber,
this makes for an extremely difficult material to work with, this hard, resilient bamboo is ideally suited to be part of the mechanism of a bow.
So at first glance, Kyoto bows have a slender, feminine quality,
but if you actually hold one and bend the bow string you realize how formidable and strong Kyoto bows are.
Kiyo-yumi differ from other forms of bows made in Japan in shape, and especially in the material they are made of.
Kiyo-yumi
