Defensive weapons of the Japanese samurai

by Don Cunningham

The Japanese sword, admired for its artistic value as well as for its practical merits, is often considered an emblem of the samurai's power and skill. It was venerated by the bushi, or warrior class, and was worn as a badge of a samurai's status. The sword was the "the soul of a samurai," and no self-respecting bushi would be seen outside his home without his daisho ¹ prominently displayed.

During wartime, swordsmanship was essential for survival on the battlefield. However, the possession of suitable side arms was considered a samurai's responsibility even after the relative peace established by the Tokugawa Shogunate. ²

Despite popular literature and the images portrayed in samurai films, bushido--the warrior's code of ethics and the samurai's moral precepts--did not allow for indiscriminate use of the sword. As bushido stressed the proper use of the sword, it also detested its misuse. The samurai who drew his sword for unjustifiable reasons or at improper occasions was regarded as ill-mannered and crude.

In 1701, Lord Asano Nagamori, the brash young daimyo or leader from Ako, was ordered to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) and his clan abolished, thus setting the stage for the bloodiest vendetta in Japan's history known as the forty-seven ronin incident. Asano's offense was drawing his short sword and attacking the shogun's chief of protocol, Kira Yoshinaka, during preparations for an official reception of an imperial envoy from Kyoto. ³

In devotion to their lord, many of his former retainers sought revenge and eventually killed Yoshinaka. Although their loyalty has become legendary, the fact remains that the Asano family and their clan were destroyed by Lord Asano's one moment of rage and his inopportune use of his sword. personal defense. ⁴

Because the sword was often unsuitable for use, samurai frequently had to rely on alternatives for personal defense. This often included the creative use of whatever common, everyday objects which could be found at hand. There were also a number of specialized weapons used when otherwise unarmed or, in some cases, when it was preferable not to kill or seriously maim the attacker.

A wide range of short arms (mi-jikai-mono) were available for self-defense. These could either be easily concealed within everyday clothing or readily carried in addition to the daisho.

Tessen

The fan was an accessory customarily carried in the hands or tucked in the obi (belt), especially in ceremonial dress. The folding fan also played a significant role in Japanese etiquette, especially on formal occasions, and was rarely ever out of a samurai's possession. The tessen, literally "iron fan," was either a folding fan with metal ribs or a non-folding solid bar shaped like a folded fan.

The forerunner of the tessen, the gunbei-uchiwa was a solid, roundish fan used by officers to signal their troops on the battlefield. Later, the gunsen, or folding war fan, was frequently carried by bushi in armor and used as a weapon of both attack and defense. Later generations were more likely to carry a tessen, which like the folding fan, usually had eight to ten metal ribs and could be worn with everyday attire. The solid tessen, forged to look like a closed fan, was more durable and became the more popular type among the samurai.

The samurai was often disarmed, such as when performing domestic chores, at leisure, or meeting with superiors. If visiting another's home, for example, a warrior was generally required to leave one or both swords with an attendant. Armed with a tessen in his obi, though, the samurai was never completely unarmed. He could easily defend himself in an emergency with what appeared to be a common,everyday object.

There are many legends regarding combat involving the use of an iron fan. The hero of many Japanese sagas, Yoshitsune allegedly learned swordsmanship and tessen-jutsu secrets from the tengu, mythical beings who were supposed to be expert martial artists.

As kendo instructors to the Tokugawa shoguns, the Yagyu ryu were also famous for their iron fan defensive techniques. There are many recorded examples of duels won using iron fans against naked swords and even deaths caused by blows from a tessen. A famous 16th century swordsman, Ganryu, armed only with his tessen, defeated several armed opponents in one incident.

It was considered unseemly to use a sword against a lower ranking rival. On the other hand, tessen-jutsu was considered sophisticated, especially among the higher ranking samurai, and many actually preferred to defend themselves with a tessen.

When entering a house or room of a senior ranking person, Japanese convention was to kneel and place the folding fan a short distance in front of and horizontal to the knees. Then placing both hands flat on the tatami, with the fingertips just short of the fan, a bow was performed, the depth relative to the rank of the visitor and the host. This common practice is the source for one infamous account of tessen-jutsu.

Summoned to appear before his lord for some fault, an official ⁵ knew his life was on the line. In fact, the lord's retainers planned to crush his neck between the heavy wooden sliding doors when he performed the ritual bow of greeting. By chance or by instinct, though, the official placed his tessen in the sliding door's groove. When the retainers slammed the doors together, they bounced harmlessly off the metal ribs caught in the groove, saving the official's neck. When he acted as if nothing had happened, the lord became bewildered and spared the official from further penalty.

Jutte

The jutte was an iron truncheon carried by feudal era police officers called doshin, as well as by their non-samurai assistants. The jutte evolved from a very strange battlefield weapon commonly believed to have been designed by Goro Nyudo Masamune, a renowned swordsmith.

Hachiwari, literally "helmet splitters," were curved, pointed metal bars with a hook near the base of the handle. Worn by the bushi like a dirk, hachiwari were probably used as a parrying weapon, held in the left hand while wielding a sword in the right, or used to pierce through body armor.

Much like the hachiwari, a single hook or fork on the side near the handle allowed the jutte to be used for trapping or even breaking the blades of edged weapons, as well as for jabbing or striking. Thus, the jutte was used to disarm and arrest suspects without bloodshed. Eventually, the jutte became a symbol of a doshin's official status. Munisai Hirata, the father of Japan's most famous swordsman, Musashi Miyamoto, was considered a master of the iron truncheon and jutte-jutsu.

Edo-period police officers and their assistants developed many weapons and techniques against criminal violators, who were usually armed and frequently desperate. The jutte was popular in feudal Japan because it could parry the slash of a razor-sharp sword and immobilize an assailant without injury. The jutte also probably influenced the development of the sai, a dual-forked metal weapon employed in Okinawan karate.

Essentially a defensive or restraining weapon, the length of the jutte required the user to get very close to those being apprehended. Like the tessen, a jutte could be used in blocking (uke) and parrying (nagashi) techniques, as well as in striking (uchi), thrusting (tsuki), and holding (osae) techniques.

Manrikigusari

The manrikigusari ⁶ consisted of a short length of metal chain, about two to three feet long, with weights on each end. The chain could be used to parry a strike from sticks, swords, or other weapons. The weights were also swung to strike an opponent or to entangle a weapon. Once a weapon was trapped by the chain and weights, the samurai could easily disarm their opponent. Finally, the length of chain could also be used to temporarily restrain an attacker once he was subdued.

The manrikigusari was allegedly developed by Dannoshin Toshimitsu Masaki, then head sentry at Edo Castle, sometime during the early 1700s. According to legend, Masaki was inspired to create this unique weapon to prevent unnecessary bloodshed while his guards defended the castle from intruders. The manrikigusari was later adopted by other constables and their assistants to disarm and capture criminals.

Shakuhachi

The strangest and most unlikely defensive weapon has to be the bamboo flute, known in Japan as the shakuhachi. The shakuhachi is a end-blown flute made from bamboo root. Used in traditional Japanese music, the soulful and deeply moving music played on the shakuhachi is often associated with the practice of Zen Buddhism and meditation.

The shakuhachi was popularized by the Fuke sect of Buddhism sometime in the thirteenth century. This sect sought to replace sutra chanting with sui zen (blowing zen) through the use of the shakuhachi.

During the Edo Period, marked by disintegration of feudal Japan, the shakuhachi was often favored by swelling numbers of uprooted and masterless samurai warriors, or ronin. Large numbers of ronin joined the ranks of itinerant preachers known as komuso (priests of emptiness and nothingness). The komuso were identified by the large baskets (tengai) ⁷, which they wore over their heads to symbolize their detachment from the world. In this way, they roamed from village to village, playing the shakuhachi and accepting alms.

Violent clan struggles during the late sixteenth century forced many of the komuso to organize themselves into a society for self-protection. Members of the Fukeshu sought to deceive Japan's military ruler, the shogun, with forged documents giving them exclusive rights to play the shakuhachi and to solicit alms with it. In return for this privilege, the komuso agreed to spy on the activities of other ronin, watching for any signs of a potential rebellion.

In any case, no longer part of the samurai class, the komuso were forbidden to wear their swords. According to legend, then these komuso redesigned the shakuhachi from the root of bamboo. By making it longer and stouter, the shakuhachi flute could also be used like a club.

Kansashi

Women from samurai families were often trained to defend themselves with a rather extraordinary concealed weapon peculiar to their gender. When dressed formally, Japanese women usually wore one or more long pins, called kansashi, hidden in their hair. Kansashi were approximately six-inches long and served primarily to keep a woman's long hair up and in place. The pins were also quite capable of piercing an attacker's chest or throat in an emergency.

Sword Abolishment Act

In 1876, the Meiji government passed the Haitorei or Sword Abolishment Act. The new law prohibited the Japanese people, including the former members of the samurai class, from bearing arms in public. The only exceptions allowed were authorized members of the armed forces or police on official duty.

Forbidden to wear their daisho in public, samurai sometimes disguised their blades as inoffensive items, such as cleverly made walking sticks or other common objects. Their ancestors, the classical warriors, overlooked nothing which could be used as a weapon. Deprived of their sword now by law, modern samurai had to rely even more on their own ingenuity and resourcefulness for protection against thieves, hoodlums, and bandits.