The All Japan Kyudo Federation is planning to establish a world governing body for Japanese archery, called "kyudo," in 2005 with a view to staging World Championships the following year in Japan, federation sources said Thursday.

The federation wants to promote the traditional Japanese sport and is expected to invite people from abroad and launch a preparatory committee in October, according to the sources.

At present, there are about 2,000 registered kyudo archers in 16 countries in Europe.