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Thread: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

  1. #1

    Default Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Something you do not get a chance to see very often is the bohiya or bo hiya, the so called fire arrow, which is actually more like a missile as it is fired from a matchlock, either a tanegashima or a mortar like gun. The shaft was wrapped with some sort of flammable material and then it was fired at roofs etc.












  2. #2

    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Very interesting images. I would like to know from which book the black and white illustration comes. Is there any english text in it, otherwise i can't understand why "Fig.58" is translated.
    I put here two photos of bohiya i took at the castle of Matsumoto
    Attachment 164572

  3. #3
    Foederatus
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    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Is this (roughly) the same weapon as what the Fire Rockets use in game? how useful it was historically?
    .

  4. #4

    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Quote Originally Posted by furinkazan View Post
    Very interesting images. I would like to know from which book the black and white illustration comes. Is there any english text in it, otherwise i can't understand why "Fig.58" is translated.
    I put here two photos of bohiya i took at the castle of Matsumoto
    Attachment 164572
    The image is obviously from a very old book, probably reprinted from a later text, it was sent to me by a gentleman from Japan who sold me the bohiya in the color photograph, unfortunately I do not know what book it was from.

    Your pictures are excellent and add to the very small amount of images available for people to see on these rare weapons. Do you have any more pictures of them?

    Here is a link to a discussion on bohiya from another forum. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewt...iya&start=1080


    Here is the same image from another source.




    Images from a modern gun troop from Japan



  5. #5

    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Quote Originally Posted by zukenft View Post
    Is this (roughly) the same weapon as what the Fire Rockets use in game? how useful it was historically?
    If anyone has any historical references on this weapon being used I would like to see it. Its hard enough just to find an image of a bohiya let alone any text on them other then a few short mentions such as in one of Turnbulls books were he mentions bo hiya "falling like rain". Pirate of the Far East: 811-1639, Stephen Turnbull, Osprey Publishing, 2007

    http://books.google.com/books?id=__9...epage&q&f=true

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    the obscurity of this weapon made me speculate that this is a copied weapon from the chinese/korean during the imjin war. even the name sound korean.
    That would explain their rarity : only being used around sekigahara.
    .

  7. #7

    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Sadly these are my only photos of these weapons. I don't remember seeing others in other castles.

    Nice photos you have there. Is this at the Hikone-castle?

  8. #8

    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Quote Originally Posted by zukenft View Post
    the obscurity of this weapon made me speculate that this is a copied weapon from the chinese/korean during the imjin war. even the name sound korean.
    That would explain their rarity : only being used around sekigahara.
    Unfortunately what is "rare" by our standards and understanding is not actually rare at all sometimes as we are limited by what books and texts are translated into western languages and by what period images we have available to us.

  9. #9
    DeMolay's Avatar Senator
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    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Thanks for the pics american samurai, it is interesting , i didn't know such weapon (mini portable mortar ? ) existed at the time

  10. #10

    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Quote Originally Posted by DeMolay View Post
    Thanks for the pics american samurai, it is interesting , i didn't know such weapon (mini portable mortar ? ) existed at the time
    Furinkazan provided some really excellent images

  11. #11

    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Quote Originally Posted by DeMolay View Post
    Thanks for the pics american samurai, it is interesting , i didn't know such weapon (mini portable mortar ? ) existed at the time
    Artillery and "cannon" derivatives were common enough in the Sengoku era. Some may contend that it was mostly through the invasion of Korea that the Japanese received additional siege weapons, but as early as the 1400s gunpowder based weapons can be found referred in various texts.

    Some suggest that this weapon is actually derived from the Houro Kuhiya (ほうろくひや), a ship-based grenade like weapon that was also common during the time. Some very simple googling found me this.



    I assume that our resident expert knows the composition and make of the weapon, so I won't bore everyone with the details here. Basically, these things were often fired out of the taihon. The earliest formal recording of such weapons can be found in the Shimabara Rebellion, where they were used to destroy houses with great effect. However, in the Annals of the Hojo, something suspiciously similar to what it presented here is used to defend Odawara castle. My personal hunch is that post invasion of Korea, this weapon became more popularized.



    Of course, there were "schools" who practiced such weapons, just like swordsmanship. The one I posted is one that is from the latter Edo period, so not totally period appropriate. Nonetheless, it is representative of this category of weapons. This picture above is a scan of a particular school's manual, and the writing is on basic instructions on the usage of such a weapon.
    Last edited by Ying, Duke of Qin; May 29, 2011 at 01:29 PM.

  12. #12

    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Quote Originally Posted by Ying, Duke of Qin View Post
    Some very simple googling found me this.


    Good information, I did not see this image with a google image search, what term did you use to find it?

    I assume that our resident expert knows the composition and make of the weapon, so I won't bore everyone with the details here.
    I do no know anyone who is an ''expert'' on these weapons so if you have any additional information please share it.

  13. #13

    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Quote Originally Posted by Ying, Duke of Qin View Post
    The earliest formal recording of such weapons can be found in the Shimabara Rebellion, where they were used to destroy houses with great effect. However, in the Annals of the Hojo, something suspiciously similar to what it presented here is used to defend Odawara castle. My personal hunch is that post invasion of Korea, this weapon became more popularized.
    In Turnbull's book Pirate of the Far East: 811-1639, Osprey Publishing, 2007 he mentions bo hiya being used in the 1600s by "kaizoku" or pirates:
    In the accounts of kaizoku operations in the Inland Sea we also read of the use of bo hiya (fire arrows) , which had a burning element fixed to the arrowhead. .....During one sea battle involving Kobayakawa Takakage we read of bo hiya 'falling like rain.
    http://books.google.com/books?id=__9...epage&q&f=true

  14. #14

    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    Interesting, thanks

    |Of, the esteemed House: DE BODEMLOZE|



  15. #15

    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    There are more photos of bo hiya here then any other place online that I know of, here is another picture of what seems to be a bo hiya related gun.


  16. #16

    Default Re: Bo hiya or bohiya fire arrows

    imagine getting shot by one of those :O

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