A Japanese bow glued with traditional animal glue pushes the arrow harder in the final stretch, at the same peak speed
1 study · archers measured
The summary today
The measurement comes from a single research group, working with a Kyoto workshop on kyudo bows. Two bows, one glued with traditional deer-hide glue and one with synthetic glue, were shot by kyudo archers in front of a high-speed camera, and the arrow's speed was worked out from the footage. For each shooter the peak speed is almost the same with the two bows. What changes is how the arrow gets there: with the animal glue the mean acceleration rises sharply from a hundredth of a second after the release and from then on stays above that of the synthetic bow, which shows no surge, and the arrow reaches the same speed as the other bow 27 milliseconds after the release. The authors conclude that the animal-glue bow gives more push just before the arrow leaves the string. How many shooters and how many shots, though, is not stated, and nothing is said about the bows beyond the glue: it is an observation whose basis is unknown. It also concerns the Japanese bow, and says nothing about the recurve.
Also phrased as: "nibe glue"; "japanese bow with traditional glue"; "deer-hide glue"; "animal or synthetic glue"; "hand-glued yumi"
In practice
Among those who shoot the Japanese bow it is said that bows glued with traditional glue have a livelier shot than those made with modern glues.
Evidence
-
2017
For Kyudo archers Published later
Kyoto bows glued with deer-hide glue (nibe) and with synthetic glue, shot by kyudo archers and filmed by a high-speed camera in front of the shooter: for each shooter the arrow's peak speed is almost the same with the two bows, but with the animal glue the arrow accelerates sharply in the final part of the push. The number of shooters and shots is not given.
Materials Technology in Kyoto Bow · Hiroyuki Hamada
-
2017
For Kyudo archers Published later
Looking at mean acceleration in 0.01 s intervals, with the animal glue it rises sharply from 0.01 s after the release and from then on exceeds that of the synthetic-glue bow, which shows no surge; the arrow reaches the same speed as the synthetic bow 0.027 s after the release.
Materials Technology in Kyoto Bow · Hiroyuki Hamada
Status history
- 2017 Reported A group working with a Kyoto workshop films at high speed kyudo bows glued with deer-hide glue and with synthetic glue, shot by kyudo archers: the arrow's peak speed is almost the same, but with the animal glue the mean acceleration rises sharply from a hundredth of a second after the release and the arrow reaches the synthetic bow's speed 27 milliseconds later. The advantage is therefore played out in a few hundredths of a second before the arrow leaves the string. The number of shooters and shots is not given: reported.
Related
Related articles
- The yumi through engineering: materials, asymmetric limbs, draw force and tenouchiHow the Japanese bow works according to the measurements: bamboo and core woods, animal glue, asymmetric limbs, the draw force curve and tenouchi twist.
- How much energy actually reaches the arrow, and where the rest goesHow much of the drawing work reaches the arrow: models say about three quarters, while the few measurements show where the rest goes and what the arrow changes.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). A Japanese bow glued with traditional animal glue pushes the arrow harder in the final stretch, at the same peak speed (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/equipment/japanese-bow-animal-glue-push
@misc{campagna2026_collaanimalespintafinale,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {A Japanese bow glued with traditional animal glue pushes the arrow harder in the final stretch, at the same peak speed},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/equipment/japanese-bow-animal-glue-push},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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