Kyudo kogi [Lectures in Archery].

First edition of this exceedingly uncommon work on Kyudo, or Japanese archery, WorldCat records the National Diet Library only, which also holds the sole copy of a revised edition of 1929. Interest in Kyudo increased after 1896, when a group of masters gathered together to find ways to preserve these ancient traditional practices, founding the Dainihon Kyudokai under the prestigious chairmanship of Prince Nijo Motohiro (1859-1928), a nobleman who served as a councillor at the court of Emperor Meiji, was a member of the House of Peers, and also served as high pirest of Kasuga Taisha, the Shinto Shrine in Nara. However, it was not until the 20s when Honda Toshizane, Kyudo Instructor at the Imperial University in Tokyo, merged the warrior and ceremonial styles in his own so-called Honda-ryu, that the revival gained momentum. His intervention was much opposed by other masters at the time, but it is now widely recognised that Honda Toshizane was responsible for the survival of Japanese archery into the twentieth century. These published lectures are divided into three sections, focusing on technique, ceremonial, and equipment. An excellent copy of this foundational work of modern martial arts.