Bows

Arrows

Accessories

Arrows [Ya]

The construction of arrows includes a straight bamboo body, three pieces of quills to stabilize the arrow in flight, and a sharp iron head "Yajiri". There are many variations of size and length, and difficult heads are designed for different targets. When a battle was started it is said that the first shot, which made a sound, was hollow, and this type of arrow may have been used to stalk certain game birds which were threatened to paralysis by the sound, making their capture or killing sure. The styles of arrowheads have descriptive names such as "leaf," "tongue," "root," and others.
A diamond shape (root) one is most common and it was used for hunting and attack.
Others (leaf) are flat and thin. A wedge shaped arrowhead which is heavy was used to break boards. Some arrows used four pieces of quills for unusual wishbone shaped head which intends to cut a rope.
High quality arrows have beautiful harmonious quills and lacquered shafts with gold slips. The heads of those arrows are heavy and many have signatures of the smiths.

Arrows of Various Size
At the left is the longest, which is 93 cm in length. Moving to the right, the arrows displayed are of 72 cm, 57 cm, 45 cm, and 30 cm. Most of the arrow's shafts are colored gold at the feathered sections and are decorated with black or red belts on the shafts proper.
Various Types of Special Purpose Arrows
The two arrows at the right have thin heart-shaped heads called "Sukashi-ya." The middle arrow, behind its V-shaped head, has a device made of bone, called "Kabyra-ya," which makes a sound when the arrow is shot through the air. The next arrow to the left has a head made of slit wood, but it has no holes for making sound; this arrow might be used in " Inuoi," a kind of game where the bow man on the horse back tried to hit a running dog. At the far left is a Kabura-ya with a diameter of 33mm. The body has three holes in it to produce sound when the arrow flies; the section with holes is 50mm in length. The overall length of this Kabura-ya is 96 cm.

Various Types of Arrow Heads
The longest head shown has a blade length of 6cm and the section inside the arrow's shaft is 15cm long. A set of arrows in a quiver may display different kinds of heads.