Shibata Kanjuro XX, whose birth name is Yoshimune, was born on 29 December 1921 in Kyoto, the former imperial city of Japan. He began practicing kyudo at the age of eight and learned the bow making craft from his grandfather Shibata XIX. At the age of 20, he received the highest degree certificate. In 1959, after the death of Kanjuro XIX, he was officially appointed his successor and imperial master bow-maker. He was master of the Taiyusha Dojo in Kyoto for many years. In 1969 he was elected a living national treasure. In 1980 he accepted an invitation from the Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, to Boulder (Co.) in the United States. Since 1985 he lived and taught there until his death in October 2013.