The bō hiya (棒火矢 bō hiya) is the Japanese version of the fire arrow. The bō hiya was used in feudal Japan by the samurai class.

History and description of Bō Hiya

Fire arrows were used in Japan as early as the 6th century, when they were reportedly used during a military campaign in Korea.

Bows (yumi) were used to shoot these early types of fire arrows. The bows were used to shoot fire arrows.

In 10th-century China, gunpowder was used to launch fire arrows, and this type of fire arrow was used against the Japanese by Mongolian ships in the 13th-century invasion. The fire arrows were used to launch fire arrows.

In 1543, the Japanese acquired musket technology from the Portuguese, and the firearms later developed by the Japanese led to new means of launching fire arrows.

These rocket bō hiya looked like a thick arrow with large fins, a wooden shaft, and a metal tip; they resembled the chongtong, a Korean cannon rocket.

Bō hiya were ignited by lighting a fuse made from waterproof incendiary rope that was wrapped around the tree; once ignited, the bō hiya was launched from a wide-range cannon, a variant of the tanegashima (the traditional Japanese musket) called hiya zutsu, or from a mortar-like weapon (hiya taihō) .

In the 16th century, Japanese pirates used bō hiya. During a naval battle, it was said that bō hiya "fell like rain." Bō hiya were the standard equipment of Japanese military ships, where they were used to set fire to enemy ships.