Bo-hiya

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An Edo period wood block print showing samurai gunners firing bo-hiya with hiya-zutsu (fire arrow guns)

Bo hiya (棒火矢, Bō hiya) is the Japanese version of the fire arrow. Bo-hiya were used in ancient Japan and by the samurai class of feudal Japan.

History and description

Fire arrows of some type have been used in Japan as far back as the 6th century where they are said to have been used during a military campaign in Korea. Bows (yumi) were used to launch these early fire arrows.[1]

In 10th-century China, gunpowder was used to launch fire arrows, and this type of fire arrow was used against the Japanese by Mongolian naval vessels in the 13th century.[2]

In 1543, the Japanese acquired

tanegashima (Japanese matchlock) called hiya zutsu, or from a mortar-like weapon (hiya taihou). By the 16th century, Japanese pirates were reported to have used bo-hiya. During one sea battle it was said the bo hiya were "falling like rain".[4] Bo-hiya were standard equipment on Japanese military vessels, where they were used to set fire to enemy ships.[5]

Gallery

  • Antique Japanese (samurai) bo hiya or bohiya (fire arrow) and hiya taihou (fire arrow cannon), Matsumoto Castle, in Nagano prefecture, Japan
    Antique Japanese (samurai) bo hiya or bohiya (fire arrow) and hiya taihou (fire arrow cannon), Matsumoto Castle, in Nagano prefecture, Japan
  • Antique Japanese (samurai) bohiya or bo hiya (fire arrow), showing the fuse, Matsumoto Castle, in Nagano prefecture, Japan
    Antique Japanese (samurai) bohiya or bo hiya (fire arrow), showing the fuse, Matsumoto Castle, in Nagano prefecture, Japan
  • Bo-hiya
    Bo-hiya
  • An Edo period wood block print showing samurai gunners using hiya zutsu (fire arrow guns) to fire bo-hiya
    An Edo period wood block print showing samurai gunners using hiya zutsu (fire arrow guns) to fire bo-hiya
  • Bo-hiya (fire arrow), ancient japanese weapon also known as hiya taihou (fire arrow cannon)
    Bo-hiya (fire arrow), ancient japanese weapon also known as hiya taihou (fire arrow cannon)

Similar weapons

References

  1. ^ Brinkley, Francis (1901). Japan: its history, arts, and literature. J.B. Millet Co. pp. 135.
  2. ISBN 9780517534045
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1-84176-478-8.[permanent dead link
    ]
  4. ISBN 978-1-84603-174-8.[permanent dead link
    ]
  5. ^ H. A. C. Bonar, "On Maritime Enterprise in Japan", in Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. Asiatic Society of Japan. 1885. pp. 121.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bo hiya (fire arrow).
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