From 1924 to 1929 he taught philosophy in Japan, and studied Kyūdō (the art of the Japanese bow) under a master named Awa Kenzô.

Herrigel describes Zen in archery as follows: (...) The archer ceases to be conscious of himself as the one who is engaged in hitting the bull's-eye which confronts him.

J. D. Salinger's fictional character Seymour Glass applied one aspect of Zen archery—aiming by deliberately not taking aim—to playing the children's game of marbles.

Both Arthur Koestler and Gershom Scholem accused Herrigel's book of being influenced by and justifying the politics of the Nazi party on the pages of Encounter magazine.

Others, such as Shoji Yamada in his book Shots in the Dark, claim that many of the conversations between Herrigel and Awa Kenzo were altered or completely fabricated by the author.