Antique Yumi Bow?

[ribendao]

I bought this old bamboo bow a while back and was wanting to learn more about it.
It’s 68” long and appears to be made from three layers of bamboo. 
It appears to be a Japanese yumi bow. That becomes even more obvious with the word “yumi” carved into the wood. This is aspect has confused me the most and is pictured. 

Can anyone help tell me more about this?

Thanks.

[ribendao]

[ROKUJURO]

Jonathan,

this could be an amateur attempt to build a bow in Japanese style. The form is not correct (too straight), and it is way too short for traditional KYUDO. Shortest standard YUMI are about 212 cm long. Perhaps for a child?

[ribendao]

  On 12/31/2023 at 9:58 PM, ROKUJURO said:

Jonathan,

this could be an amateur attempt to build a bow in Japanese style. The form is not correct (too straight), and it is way too short for traditional KYUDO. Shortest standard YUMI are about 212 cm long. Perhaps for a child?

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it seems pretty well done for an amateur job. Also it takes a a lot of strength to string up. I suspect a child couldn’t do it.

 

[ROKUJURO]

Jonathan,

I am an amateur and I have built one that looked close. There is a very special technique to put the string on. If you are not familiar with it, there is a risk to break the bow. It it were an old YUMI (older than 60 to 80 years), they should not be used as they dry out and can break. Antique bows are especially delicate as they are made with fish scale glue. These bows can be quite brittle. 

In the last picture, the upper loop of the bowstring is hanging on the wrong side! Again, if you are not used to use a YUMI, it is easy to damage it beyond repair.

 

[ribendao]

Hi Jean,

 

I strung up this bow once and shot it. It was still very supple. So this probably isn’t that old. Probably just a modern repo. 
 

Thanks for your input.