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Anazusayumi (梓弓) is asacred bow (yumi) used in certainShintorituals inJapan, as well as aJapanesemusical bow, made from the wood of the Japaneseazusa (梓) or Japanese cherry birch tree (Betula grossa).[1] Playing anazusa yumi forms part of someShinto rituals; in Japan, it is believed that merely the twanging of thebowstring will frighten ghosts and evil spirits away from a house. InJapanese poetry, the wordazusa yumi functions as amakurakotoba ("pillow word", a kind ofepithet).[2]
The story is told in Japanese mythology that a golden bird perched on the bow ofEmperor Jimmu, the great-grandson of the sun goddessAmaterasu, and the first human ruler of Japan. This was seen as an extremely good omen; Jimmu's bow developed the power to dispel evil by the mere plucking of its string. His bow was made ofazusa wood.
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