The meditative way of the bow, where a clean shot is judged less by the target than by the form, breath and stillness of the shaho-hassetsu eight stages.
Kyoto's Sanjusangen-do hosts the centuries-old Toshiya long-range archery, and the city's lineage dojo keep classical Heki-ryu and Ogasawara-ryu forms alive.
BirthplaceUnbroken lineageHeritageNamed mastersThe Nara City Kyudo Association runs hands-on sessions at the municipal budojo where visitors are kitted in full traditional dress and taught the fundamentals by association archers.
Living sceneHeritageChiba's budo university and the Nippon Budokan training center host the multi-day International Seminar of Budo Culture, the closest thing to a residential budo intensive for qualifying foreign practitioners.
Living sceneVerified schoolsI'm Arnaud. I cook for a living, and I've spent fifteen years on the water — so I know the difference between a real school and a good-looking website. I built the Atlas because I got tired of the second kind. Here is what a place has to clear before it goes on here, and what I'll tell you straight when it doesn't.
If a place dodges these, that's your answer. It costs you nothing to ask, and it tells you everything.
This is the short version. The full method is here — the six questions, in order, for any craft anywhere.