("art of archery") is the traditional Japanese martial art of wielding a bow (yumi) as practiced by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Although the samurai are perhaps best known for their swordsmanship with a katana (kenjutsu), kyà «jutsu was actually considered a more vital skill for a significant portion of Japanese history. During the majority of the Kamakura period through the Muromachi period (c.1185–c.1568), the bow was almost exclusively the symbol of the professional warrior, and way of life of the warrior was referred to as .
The beginning of archery in Japan is, as elsewhere, pre-historical. The first images picturing the distinct Japanese asymmetrical longbow are from the Yayoi period (ca. 500 BCâÂÂ300 AD). The first written document describing Japanese archery is the Chinese chronicle Weishu (éÂÂæ¸; dated around 297 AD), which tells how in the Japanese isles people use "a wooden bow that is short from the bottom and long from the top."
The changing of society and the military class (samurai) taking power at the end of the Heian period (794ï¼Â1185) created a requirement for education in archery. This led to the birth of the first kyà «jutsu ryà «ha (æµÂæ´¾, style), the Henmi-ryà «, founded by Henmi Kiyomitsu () in the 12th century. The Takeda-ryà « () and the mounted archery school Ogasawara-ryà « () were later founded by his descendants. The need for archers grew dramatically during the Genpei War (1180âÂÂ1185) and as a result the founder of the Ogasawara-ryà « (Ogasawara Nagakiyo), began teaching yabusame (mounted archery).
During the Kamakura period (1185âÂÂ1333), when Minamoto no Yoritomo established the Kamakura shogunate, archery became more and more popular, especially the three types of mounted archery: yabusame, inuoumono, and kasagake.
From the 15th to the 16th century, Japan was ravaged by civil war. In the latter part of the 15th century Heki Danjà  Masatsugu revolutionized archery with his new and accurate approach called hi, kan, chà « (fly, pierce, center), and his footman's archery spread rapidly. Many new schools were formed, some of which, such as Heki-ryà « Chikurin-ha (), Heki-ryà « Sekka-ha (æ¥置æµÂéªè·派) and Heki-ryà « Insai-ha (æ¥置æµÂå°西派), remain today.
The yumi (Japanese bow) as a weapon of war began its gradual decline after the Portuguese arrived in Japan in 1543 bringing firearms with them in the form of the matchlock. The Japanese soon started to manufacture their own version of the matchlock called tanegashima and eventually the tanegashima and the yari (spear) became the weapons of choice. However, because took a long time to load, were inconvenient in rainy weather when damp gunpowder would not fire, and were not exactly subtle in terms of noise, the did not go out of fashion and continued to be used as an important military force on the battlefield.
The tanegashima was far more powerful than the yumi and also did not require as much training, allowing Oda Nobunaga's army consisting mainly of farmers armed with tanegashima to annihilate a traditional samurai cavalry in a single battle in 1575.
During the Tokugawa period (1603âÂÂ1868) Japan was turned inward as a hierarchical caste society in which the samurai were at the top. There was an extended era of peace during which the samurai moved to administrative duty, although the traditional fighting skills were still esteemed. During this period archery became a "voluntary" skill, practiced partly in the court in ceremonial form, partly as different kinds of competition. During this period, an archery contest called Tà Âshiya was popularly held at the Buddhist temple Sanjusangen-do. Many samurai competed to hit an arrow at a target 133 meters away, nearly the width of the Buddhist temple. Today, this Tà Âshiya contest is held as an annual event on Coming of Age Day, January 15, with women archers participating, but with the distance to the target shortened to 60 meters.
In the early Edo period, Morikawa Kà Âzan founded the Yamato-ryà « (), which was based on Ogasawara-ryà « etiquette and Heiki-ryà « shooting methods, and also incorporated Shinto ideas.
During the changes to Japan brought by opening up to the outside world at the beginning of the Meiji era (1868âÂÂ1912), the samurai lost their status. Therefore, kyà «jutsu was considered obsolete and began to decline. Kyà «jutsu practitioners established dojos to survive and began to spread among the common people. In 1896, a group of kyà «jutsu masters gathered to save traditional archery. Honda Toshizane, the kyà «jutsu teacher for the Imperial University of Tokyo, merged the war and ceremonial shooting styles, creating a hybrid called Honda-ryà « (). In 1919, the name of "kyà «jutsu" was officially changed to kyà «dà Â, and following the example of other martial arts that have been systematizing for educational purposes, kyà «dà  also reorganized and integrated various forms of shooting that had been used up until then.
The Ogasawara-ryà « () is a school that has been handed down in the Ogasawara clan for generations, and in the middle of the Muromachi period (1336âÂÂ1573), The school was noted for three things, archery, horsemanship, and etiquette, originally taught by Ogasawara Nagakiyo The Ogasawara-ryà « is famous for yabusame. The school performs Shomen-uchiokoshi (æ£é¢æÂÂèµ·ãÂÂ), one of the bow positions derived from mounted archery in standing archery.
The Takeda-ryà « () has its origins in the fact that the founder of the school learned archery from the prince of Emperor Montoku. The characteristic of this school is different from other schools in the action of taking arrows out of the yazutsu (quiver) during yabusame. Another characteristic of this school is that they wear a oni mask on their kasa (hat) when they perform yabusame. This school of yabusame is performed at the Meiji Shrine Autumn Festival.
The Heki-ryà « () was founded in the Muromachi period by a samurai, Heki Danjà  Masatsugu. This school emphasized actual combat, and the shooting methods of this school influenced other schools. There are also many branches of the Heki school, including the Sekka-ha (éªè·派), Dà Âsetsu-ha (éÂÂéª派), Chikurin-ha (竹æÂÂæ´¾), Izumo-ha (åºé²派), Insai-ha (å°西派) and Yoshida-ha (Ã¥ÂÂç°派).
The Yamato-ryu () was founded by Morikawa Kozan in the early Edo period (1603ï¼Â1868). Morikawa Kozan, a student of one of the most prominent families in the school of kyà «jutsu, trained for more than 10 years and mastered various styles of kyà «jutsu. He established the Yamato-ryà « by incorporating Shinto, Buddhist, and Confucian ideas into the kyà «jutsu, with the Shinto philosophy he had learned during his training at its core. This school developed by referring to the Ogasawara-ryà « for etiquette and the Heki-ryà « for shooting techniques.
In combat kyà «jutsu at the time just before kyà «jutsu was replaced by kyà «do, there were five methods of shooting and six things that were important for the kyà «jutsuka (kyà «jutsu practitioner) to acquire. These are referred to as the "Gosha Rokka" (Gosha Riku-ka, äºÂå°Âå Âç§Â, five shootings and six school subjects).