Hama yumi

Background

According to legend, in 1103 A.D. the Imperial Palace was taken over by an evil demon, causing the Emperor to fall ill with great anxiety and suffering. The Imperial High Priests tried and failed to destroy the demon and dispel its influence. Finally, the archer Minamoto no Yorimasa was summoned to the Imperial Palace. With a steady hand and a virtuous heart, he vanquished the demon with his first arrow, and his bow was declared a hama yumi, an 'Evil-Destroying Bow,' and the first arrow a hama ya, an 'Evil-Destroying Arrow.'

Since then, hama yumi have been used in Buddhist and Shinto rituals of purification, such as Shihōbarai (the Purification/Sweep of the Four Directions). In Japan, it is believed that merely the twanging of its bowstring will frighten away ghosts, evil spirits, and negative influences from a house. A miko will carry a hama yumi and a set of hama ya as part of their religious regalia, while in Feudal Japan they were used literally in defense of a shrine or temple.

Hama-yumi replicas are scale versions of the sacred Japanese bow, coated with urushi, wrapped in fine rattan, and accented in gold leaf. They are displayed in a stand along with two arrows tipped with yanone (traditional warrior tips); one arrow represents male and the other female, yin and yang (vermilion signifying male energy (yang), and black representing female energy (yin)).