Use
In battle, particularly around the time of the Heian period, kabura-ya would be fired before a battle, to alert the enemy. The whistling sound was also believed to chase away evil spirits, and to alert friendly kami to lend their support. It was not uncommon for archery exchanges to be performed for quite some time, and in the 1183 battle of Kurikara, for example, fifteen arrows were fired by each side, then thirty, then fifty, then one hundred, before these hundred samurai on each side actually engaged one another in battle. It was also not uncommon for messages to be tied to these arrows, which could be fired into fortresses, battle camps or the like. This practice of the formal archery exchange likely died out gradually following the end of the Heian period, as war became less and less ritualized.
The arrows would also be sold at ShintÅ shrines as good luck charms, particularly around New Year's Day; simply carrying a kabura-ya is meant to serve as a ward against evil spirits.
Read more about this topic: Kabura-ya (Japanese Signal Arrow)
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