Translation guide
A specialized arrow with a whistling head, historically used in East Asian warfare to signal the start of battle, communicate, or intimidate. The most common Japanese term is 鏑矢 (kaburaya).
The learner wants to refer to the historical arrow that makes a whistling sound to signal the beginning of a battle.
The standard Japanese term for a whistling arrow used in battle. The whistling sound is produced by a perforated wooden or horn head (鏑, kabura).
合戦の合図に鏑矢が放たれた。
A whistling arrow was shot as the signal to start the battle.
Literary or formal term for a whistling arrow, often used metaphorically to mean 'the beginning' or 'first sign' of something.
A less common term literally meaning 'sounding arrow'. Can refer to any arrow that makes noise, not necessarily for battle signals.
鳴り矢は狩りにも使われた。
Sounding arrows were also used for hunting.
In modern Japanese, 嚆矢 is more commonly used in a figurative sense to mean 'the beginning' or 'pioneer' of something, rather than referring to the actual arrow. For the physical object, use 鏑矢.
この作品は日本文学の嚆矢とされる。
This work is considered the pioneer of Japanese literature.
This event became the first sign of modernization.