Can you take a bow and arrows on a plane?

Bows and arrows on flights in and from Japan

The rule for bows and arrows comes from the Civil Aviation Bureau's list of restricted items and is the same on domestic and international flights.

Bringing a crossbow into Japan needs a permit to possess and import approval arranged in advance.

Bows, arrows and crossbows next to darts and slingshots

Every list we read that names bows keeps them out of the cabin. They differ on toys, on darts and slingshots, and on which weapons law a crossbow falls under.

Classed with things that fire projectiles

Japan's list files bows and arrows and crossbows under projectile launchers, in the rows after the slingshot. The EU list puts bows, crossbows and arrows under guns, firearms and other devices that discharge projectiles, while Taiwan's CAA lists the bow and arrow as a sharp object. In Japan and Taiwan the result is the same: checked baggage.

Arrows, darts and slingshots have rows of their own

Arrows are named separately from the bow on the South Korean and EU lists, so a quiver without a bow is still kept out of the cabin. Japan's neighbouring rows are more lenient than the bow row: a slingshot that is plainly a toy may be carried on, and so may darts with no metal spike at the tip. GOV.UK lists darts and catapults as hold luggage only.

Toy bows

South Korea's list says toy bows, crossbows and arrows may be carried into the cabin. Japan's bow and crossbow rows carry no toy note, unlike the slingshot row beside them, and the list's preface leaves the call to the airline or the screener when material, strength or shape could make an item a weapon. So a toy bow has no promised place in the cabin on a flight from Japan.

A take-down bow is still a bow

Packing a bow in pieces does not change its row. Japan's list restricts sports equipment that can serve as a weapon, and also anything that can become one once it is assembled. The same reasoning is written into its row for gun parts, which are kept out of the cabin because passengers could assemble them on board.

Crossbows and Japanese weapons law

For the flight a crossbow gets the same marks as a bow on Japan's list, and GOV.UK names only the crossbow: no in hand luggage, yes in the hold. Entering Japan is another matter. Japan Customs says possession of firearms, crossbows and swords is restricted by the Firearms and Swords Possession Control Law. The ordinary bow is not named in that sentence.

• Guns and swords: the Japanese permit
• Guns and replica guns
• Swords and replica swords

Bows and arrows: the rule country by country

The carry-on answer for bows and arrows is the same in all 8 other places we checked.

Each row comes from that authority's own page. Airlines can be stricter, and the screening officer has the final say.

If security in Japan will not let bows and arrows through

What to do

Move bows and arrows to the bag you check in before you reach security. Narita Airport states that anything given up at the checkpoint is discarded and cannot be returned.

If it gets on board

Taking an item that is restricted from the cabin onto an aircraft is punishable under Japan's Civil Aeronautics Act: up to 2 years' imprisonment or a fine of up to 1,000,000 yen.

Related items

• Fireworks and party poppers
• Petrol and kerosene
• Guns and replica guns
• Swords and replica swords
• Stun guns and batons
• Ammunition