Our specialty is "Ya" (The Japanese arrow):

(Are they all different?)The price is depend on the feather of the arrow. This one is feather of a hawk, of an eagle, and of all different kind of birds. Our specialty is "Ya", the Japanese arrow, not "Yumi", the bow. (Do you sell these individually?)A set of 4 arrows. Actually, 2 arrows are for games and others for spares. So in the game, 4 arrows are in one set.

To save the tradition:

(A bow reminds me the Age of Civil Wars. ) Yeah. There is a bow for the primitive age. The origin of the bows is for hunting to get the meat of animals or some like that. The time passed, and in the Age of Civil Wars, bows and arrows are used for weapon before guns are invented, aren't they? After the guns came up, they didn't use the bows anymore. Right now, the archery became a sport. After the World War ll, Douglas MacArthur forbade all the weapons in Japan. So after that, the Archery became one of sports, and all the schools and colleges started making clubs of it. (But didn't no one forget about Kyudo, the Japanese archery even it was forbidden?) No, of course not. Kyudo is the "sports" for Japanese people from ancient time. (It remained as "Budo" (military arts)?) That's it. But if we changed the old manufacturing method, the arrows would not work well. Right now, we just keep making them way it is and try to save the traditions. (Do you shoot an arrow by yourself?) Me? Yes, of course. Without testing it, I don't know how the arrow goes, or whether they match for a bows or not.

I have been making these arrows for about 40 years:

(How many times has this shop changed hands? ) I'm the third owner. (And how old is this shop?) About 100 years. (By pointing at the person sitting next to him.) The guy over there is Mr. Akiyama, the son of the previous owner. I am the previous owner's nephew. (Oh, do you have different last name?) Uh-huh. So my last name is Akiyama and I am the third owner of the Sugiyama. I have been making these arrows for about 40 years. (Mr. Sugiyama replied.) I've been for 30 years. (Mr. Akiyama added.) I've been here from the time that his grand-father was working. I love making things. (May I ask your age?) Fifty-six. I've started from the age of fifteen. (How about Mr. Sugiyama?) I am 50's but I'm like his brother. (Mr. Akiyama speak.) I have been here since I was in the fourth grade. (with his laugh)

I couldn't work any more if I had bad the senses of fingers and eyes:

(How do you start training?) At first, We start from this part, called Hazu.(The end part of an arrow is cleft. Hook the string of the bow on this part.) Long ago, there was the place called Hankyu Yaba (small darts field. ) in the red-light district. In the Summer time, there was place like that on the beach, remember? Exchange some money to 10 arrows and we can shoot the arrows for fun. And the arrow had a wooden Hazu. Now, it is replaced with Suigyu(water buffalo). We were told to make the cleft. Usually, this part, Hazu, was the only part which would break. The first one goes no problem, but the next one breaks here. We changed this place by using this special saw, called Hazubiki. This saw cuts the woods while I push it forward. We, now, make a special order to have this. (How long do you cut the bamboo (the material of arrows.)?) About 3 years. I do the work called Aradame (Burn the bamboo a little and make it straight.). We only do this for long time. The good one must be done this job about 30 times. The cheap one is done about 5 to 10 times. But this Aradame is the most important job. If we don't do this, that affects to the finishing touches. To avoid this, do Aradame importantly. I was told from last last boss. For 5 years, we train to do Aradame. It is the basic of making arrow because Aradame is done for straightening the bamboo of the arrow. So even if you know the bamboo is bent, it's not good if you can't fix it. Put the bamboo on the nail and turn. We call this process Tsumenori. By doing this, you can detect the curb. So that is the why if you had bad sense of eyes and fingers. Without the sense, I'm fired. (Any tools?) Make the tools by myself that suits to my hand. (When you can call one as independent?) That depends on the person but normally about 10 years. Even if you finished the training, it's hard to make the customer agree with the product less than 10 years training. (Are there any person who become a disciple?) There are some but I don't advertise now. (Do you work at late night together?) Yes, we do. We can do quicker job in the silence of the night.

I can inscribe the name of MASAMUNE on my Ya:

You know, if the Ya is very good one, Ya can be inscribed the name of MASAMUNE. In order not to disgrace the name, I keep making the way I've been taught. That's why, all around Japan, there is only arrow named MASAMUNE, and no one else but I has the name. (Does that means everyone has his own name?) Yes. For bows, there are specialists for that. I am professional for arrows. (How many people are the member of the union in Japan?) About 200, 300. The Eastern Japanese Kyudo Association covers Kanagawa to Hokkaido and makes one group. There are also Kansai Association, Shizuoka Association, ans some more in Kyushu. There are not much people making arrows and bows in Tokyo. There are maybe four or five artisan making arrows like us. Rests of craftsmen are specialists for Bows and KAKEO. As you can see, there are briefly 3 sections. Master of Kakeo, Ya, Yumi. And everyone has their own style and tradition. So neither of the master of Kakeo nor Yumi can make the arrows. The techniques are too different. (Everything is hand-made?) Sure.

There must be 4 joints even with long one or short one:

The Ya without feathers is called "No". So when the No gets feathers, it becomes an arrow. There are different types of No such as FUSHIKAGE or ICHIMONJI (straight line). Now the types of main current of feathers are ISOWASHI, INUWASHI, KUMAWASHI. (All different types of eagles.) Nowadays, we can't take much Japanese birds. They use American turkeys from the United States most of the time. In the states, turkey is the main dish for Christmas dinner so the feathers of it are coming to Japan. By the Treaty of Washington, hunting Japanese birds is illegal now. But even a feather of a turkey, we can make a good arrow if we use better bamboo. There is no problem by using that feathers. (You work even you don't have the materials?) That's about it. So even though we use cheap feathers, such as a turkey, there is no bad effect by using excellent bamboo because there is no malfunction. (How about the bamboo?) We use the bamboo from Kanto area. The reason for this is that bamboo can't grow much in cold area because the bamboo joints get shorter, and it grows too much in warm area because the joints get too long. The bamboo joints are fixed. So no matter how long it is, there is only 4 joints. That's the rule of Kyudo. As I said, in area around Hokkaido, the joints become too short so the person who is tall and has long arms can't use them. In that situation, we use longer one even with four joints. The names of the four joints are ITSUKEBUSHI, NONAKABUSHI, SODESURIBUSHI, HANAKABUSHI. (BUSHI means joint.) There is reason for four joints. If we used five or six joints one, the arrows never work well. If they aim one point, the arrow has to go to the point accurately. To make it to do that, we must control the upward or downward balances. That's the technique. So we have to make it with same joints, same weight, and same balance. We use MONME for scale of weight. Even though the shape is same, heavy one will fall and light one will be blown up. (Do you sell them in a set of four arrows?) Yeah. Two arrows are enough but they need to shoot for long distance so in the game, they should have four.

We can hear your favors:

One arrow cost 2000 yen or up for students. It's strong enough though it's inexpensive. We can make them from duralumin instead of bamboo. The duralumin has not long progress like bamboo. (Do you make the duralumin one, too?) I do everything. I take an order, too. There are orders of color of strings which is used to wind around the arrow, too, such as red, pink and etc. (One can choose what they want?) Sure. I can hear your favors. For fixing, too. To change even one feather, we use a HAGI string of one's favor. This Hagi string is silk thread. As you can see, I can fix the feathers. But No should be the good one. This is the most important part of an arrow. It's the technique to make this. But there is no arrow that last forever. They will be narrow as much as they use, and sometimes it will be broken. When they broken into half, we join them together. Bamboo has tiny holes so when they scratch the sand of target, it will be snap naturally. Then we connect them from the broken part. (So you can fix them as way it is, can't you?) Yes. If the arrow is broken in the part of feather, I can connect the in the part, too.

It can be used for a year:

(How do you use the bamboo?) The new one is too soft to use. So we use 2-year and a half or 3-year-old bamboo. It will be tight enough. (What is "tight enough"?) The bamboo itself becomes thicker. The space inside of the bamboo becomes narrow. To make the fishing rod, we curve from inside but for the arrow, we start from outside. (Can you use the bamboo right after it's chopped?) You can't use it direct from a mountain within a year. Dry it for a year, keep doing it, and after it dried, the bamboo becomes white. Next, put them into fire; we call it Aradame. After that, curve the bamboo joint, and shine it with a stone. Then we "burn" the color. We don't paint the color but burn the color into the bamboo. We burn it in the tunnel of charcoals. This will be one-day work. During this work, we have to check the curb of the bamboo. Then shine it with a scouring rush. (Does it make any difference to the carry?) Yes, it does. We have to make the arrows that match to the strength of the bow. So we rub or shine them hundred, thousand times. Before put the feather on the arrow, there are a lot of small stuff to do. (At what point do you complete the set of four?) Before you put them into fire. If the bamboo is better, make the set of six or eight arrows, and avoid bad ones from them.

We don't make one arrow per day:

(How long do you take to make?) It depends the material. We proceed much bamboo so we don't make one arrow per day. So if we put them into fire, we only do the job all the day; won't get to finishing.

The arrow will be picked up by the enemy, and get back to you:

(What is the special custom of Masamune?) The Sugiyama is all from Mito. The arrow makers had more priority than other weapon makers. That is because there was the case that arrows you shoot off would be picked up and shot off by the enemy to you. Then the soldiers squash Hazu and shoot so that the enemy who picked up the arrow can't directly shot it back unless the arrow maker fix the part. Therefore, there must be some arrow makers in the battle. (Leisurely war?) In the war in old time, there were arrows that only general had. The arrows had the name of the general and the address. He only had 12 arrows, and his soldiers had 24 arrows and shot off. Therefore, when they shot off all the arrows, the enemy who picked up all the arrows knew that their enemy had no more arrows.

Even the arrow is bent or broken:

(Where is the most valuable part?) The bamboo and the feathers. If the feathers are taken out from rare birds, the value will become a great value. With a customer's order we burn the name and our name, Masamune for him. (Are there any arrows that have no name?) Yes. The cheap one, we don't curve anything. To burn the name means there is responsibility for us. This is a branding-iron. So even if it's broken or bent, it won't be erased off.

Foreign people prefer a bamboo than a duralumin:

(Do foreign people shoot the arrows these days?) Yes. There are many. They practice the Budo. They prefer a bamboo than a duralumin. For my perception, they are so big that they should use strong glass fiber one but they like bamboo better. So we make a special long arrow for them. (The orders are on the increase?) I think so. From 10 years ago, they started a meet so the players have come to us. Right now, the Federation of Kyudo are sending out the teacher to all the countries so they can have their tests in their country, too. (Is it popular in the United States?) Yes, I guess. I heard that there were people who made a school for Kyudo. (How about in Japan?) There are many. This year, many high schools and universities are adopting Kyudo. A while ago, there was a soup opera that was about Kyudo club. Because of the drama, the popularity has increased. (Does the popularity of a duralumin arrow means expansion of the range?) I think it does. It should be one of the reason of increasing of the members. Kyudo is not heavy sports so the population of ladies also has been increasing.

Therefore we keep learning until we die:

(The bamboo must be the soul?) We have to straighten a bamboo anyway so from the beginning we try to choose the one is already straight. However, it won't be in order in rainy season or summer time. So, there is no bamboo which is perfectly straight at the beginning. That's why we keep leaning until we die. By my hand, I want to make better arrows. I feel relieve when I finish the arrows, sold them, and the customer use it and like it. (How long does it take until you can feel that way?) About 2, 30 years, I believe. When I asked to finish everything by myself, or when I asked from the master of the Dojo to make arrow and he approve it, I could congratulate myself. Make the arrows depending on the strength of the bow or on the skill of the customer. And the set of feathers must be 3 after all. If the set is 2, that makes funny noise like a caudal fin. If it's 4, the speed of arrows will be reduced down. As you can see, ancient people were thinking very well. The only part that has changed from the past is the pasting. In old time, people used the stuff called Nikawa to put the feathers, but nowadays, we use glue instead. Nevertheless, the process has never been changed from the ancient time.