Yari Pole Construction?

[Peter Bleed]

Earlier this week, I found myself in a conversation about the number (and logistical implications) of the arms used at battles like Nagashino. Thousands of guns, swords, and yari were involved in these affairs.  We are aware of where guns and sword and yari blades and were being produced, But I have never seen anything on where yari were mounted. Can anyone point me to information on where this work was done?

Thanks

Peter

[Fuuten]

Don't take my word for it because someone with more knowledge will come by but,

 

From what i recall reading in a topic not too long ago part of a pole is split open, and maybe a slice in the center is removed to fit the nagako of said yari. Then the sides are filled and held together by fittings etc. There was also a reference (iirc) to some of the same techniques used in shirasaya making. Hope that helps maybe a little.

 

Edit: if you meant to ask where exactly this was being done, i suppose the answer is any workshop also doing shirasaya and koshirae back then, which would probably every province.

[b.hennick]

I do not think that they could use green lumber so material must have been stockpiled for some time to "season". I would expect that armouries would have poles in stock so that they could be supplied when needed. After a battle the winner could pick up reusable weapons and broken spears would fit in that category. 

 

Currently sayashi stockpile their lumber to cure some for decades I understand. I remember reading that magnolia is bought in the USA and transported to Japan for seasoning. A friend always checks a shirasaya to note the quality of the wood used as well as the fit and finish of the piece. 

 

Today you can go to a hardware store to buy a handle for a broom or axe. I would think that an equivalent store for poles for yari would have existed in Japan. 

 

All the above is personal conjecture. I cannot cite any source at the moment. 

[John A Stuart]

The ebu is usually a wood like red or white oak isn't it, or even waxwood? John

[IanB]

Peter,  A few years ago I wrote an article based on a census taken in the town of Tsuyama:

 

’In 1665 there were in this town nearly 1000 houses occupied by warriors of all ranks, including foot-soldiers, with about 4000 other houses in which lived townsfolk of all sorts. There is a list of the craftsmen in the town: they include three blacksmiths, eight sword sharpeners, four silver-smiths, three scabbard-workers, two lacquerers, two shaft-makers, and one worker in cypress wood. All of these were specialists in the manufacture of equipment for the warriors, but there were other craftsmen more generally employed. There was one dyer, but no less than 98 sake-brewers, as well as 222 carpenters, 37 sawyers, 6 plasterers, and an unspecified number of coopers, shinglers, thatchers, paper-makers, tobacco-cutters, tilers and mat-makers.’

 

You will note that two craftsmen were involved in making shafts. Note it was a distinctly separate craft from the saya makers - possibly because it invoolved the use of kashi or red oak rather than magnolia. I could find only one 'blacksmith' who was a sword maker, a Kanekaga being listed as working in Tsuyama at that period. This was after all just after the Sengoku Jidai so no doubt sword blades were fairly easily obtained second-hand. Since spear shafts were being produced in the town it is logical that spear heads were also being made there so it may be that another 'blacksmith' made yari and possibly arrowheads whilst the third was probably a general iron worker. 

 

I found the number of polishers and 'silver-smiths' interesting. Based on the number of military I argued:

If the estimate of around 1500 to 2000 samurai is reasonably correct, this would equate to approximately 4000 –5000 or so swords owned by the military and other classes. Let us say there were 2000 long swords and 2500 short swords, giving each polisher about 250 katana and 300 short swords to work on. Allowing 8 days to re-polish a long sword and 3 days on average for a short sword or a tanto, this equates to approximately 2900 man days of labour. Thus each of the eight sword polishers would need to work this length of time before reaching the end of their share of the swords. This suggests that each sword could be re-polished about every 8 to 10 years. Having been newly polished it would be normal for a new scabbard to be made, requiring each scabbard maker to produce approximately 150 scabbards per year that would in turn be passed onto the two lacquer workers to finish the scabbards. 

Ian Bottomley

[Peter Bleed]

Friends,

Once agin the the NMB has worked. I'm sorry Fuuten, if my inquiry was vague. Indeed, I wondered where - in geographihc space -  spear poles were made. My expectation is that there were places that supported specialized groups of workers who made spears. Think Osafune, Sekai etc. I did not mean to ask about "where" yari were mounted - on the end of a wooden pole. I am lucky enough to have had a couple of "old" yari disentegrate in my collection. On the basis of those experiences, I can tell you that yari poles were NOT split like katana saya/tsuka. The pattern I have observed is that yari nakago were fitted into  deep grooves that were carved into the pole and filled with a carefully fitted sline. Yari seem to have been fitted very tightly so maybe it is not surprising that even shinto yari often have heavy nakago sabi. There are also cases I have seen of yari with blades that were secured below lacquered exterior coats that offered no means for removing the mekugi. Thus, altho signed, these weapons seem not to have been designed to be dismounted. These yari were for fighting, not for inspecting!

And Barry, as i read your note my reaction was the one that Ian came up with. Tools and skills of working curved honoki saya are likely to be very different from what was needed to make straight red oak poles. In fact, I wonder how hard it would be to "find" straight oak boards suitable for yari shafts. They may well have been rather carefully cultivated.

And Ian, I am sorry to say that I was unaware of the paper you told us about. Would you please give us the complete reference.

Thank you all.

Peter

[Brian]

Peter,

Perhaps there is some useful info here on the actual construction methods:

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/5385-yari-shaft-construction

A topic I have some interest in myself. Sorry, don't have anything to add about production areas etc.

 

Brian

[IanB]

Peter, The article was only a couple of pages I knocked up for the Northern ToKen Society after finding the census details in ‘Everyday Life in Traditional Japan’ by C. J. Dunn (Batsford, London,1969). I was intrigued about just what had been going on in that town prior to the census. It seems it had originally been Kobayakawa Hideyaki's land but since he died without heir it was given to Mori Tadamasa. He built a massive castle there said to rival Himeiji. Tadamasa's son Nagatsugu took over on his father's death and it was during his tenure the census was taken. 

Ian Bottomley

[Ken-Hawaii]

Peter is correct that yari nakago were fitted into deep grooves that were carved into the pole, and filled with a carefully-fitted wedge to hold it in place, along with the usual mekugiana. I'm lucky enough to have two complete yari, including poles & fittings in my collection. What's interesting is that one of the poles appears to be constructed of two different woods that are carefully glued together along its length. My sword mentor & I think that this was done to counteract the tendency of woods to warp with humidity, temperature, & possible immersion in water.

 

Great writeup, Ian!

 

Ken

[IanB]

Ken, Talking of warped yari, Near Matsue is a road-side noodle shop the whole front of which is a large shop-like window. Inside are relics of the daimyo gyoretsu, put there I would guess in the meiji period and obviously never touched since. There is a norimon whose lacquer has all fallen off and forms a mound around it on the floor, kamishimo and jinbaori hanging on stands as tattered rags and so on - everything bleached colourless by a century of sun. Best of all are long yari on pegs on the rear wall. These have now taken a bend at the supporting peg, the weight of the head having bent the shafts to something like a 30 degree angle but without breaking the wood. It is an amazing but tragic sight to see such treasures reduced to almost nothing.

Ian B

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Ken,

2 different woods wouldn't have been used to counteract warping.  2 woods are just as likely to warp as one, unless one of the species was particularly unlikely to warp, in which case the shaft would have been made from just that one wood.

To make a shaft that is unlikely to warp you start with 1 piece of an appropriate for a shaft, straight grained wood, cut it in half lengthwise, flip one half front for back, and then glue the 2 halves back together.  Now if the wood wants to warp the 2 halves will work against each other and remain true.

Maybe your shaft was made from 2 woods for decorative purposes.

Grey

[Ken-Hawaii]

Looking at the grain, Grey, it's possible that the halves are indeed the same piece of wood that are flipped, as you said. I had just never thought of looking at it that way. Thanks for the idea, & correction.

 

Ken

[Bugyotsuji]

Mention of Tsuyama suggests I should post a pic of a yari I bought very recently. Even at 12 feet it is probably not at its full original length.

 

The Mei is "Yamashiro no Kami Kunishige" 山代守国重 and I was assured that this was either Takahashi Mizuta or Edo Mizuta. I am not convinced. 

 

Anyway, I was hoping to mix it in with the other Yari so my wife would not notice the new-comer... 

 

[Fuuten]

Wow Bugyotsuji thats awesome!

And i just love the Japanese interior! More photo's please

[Bugyotsuji]

Hi Axel, more photos of the pole(s)?

[Fuuten]

Or of the blades or the interior or anything

[Bugyotsuji]

Ah.... that would have to be on another thread. Hmmm... 

[Dr Fox]

On 4/18/2015 at 11:25 AM, IanB said:

 

 

I found the number of polishers and 'silver-smiths' interesting. Based on the number of military I argued:

If the estimate of around 1500 to 2000 samurai is reasonably correct, this would equate to approximately 4000 –5000 or so swords owned by the military and other classes. Let us say there were 2000 long swords and 2500 short swords, giving each polisher about 250 katana and 300 short swords to work on. Allowing 8 days to re-polish a long sword and 3 days on average for a short sword or a tanto, this equates to approximately 2900 man days of labour. Thus each of the eight sword polishers would need to work this length of time before reaching the end of their share of the swords. This suggests that each sword could be re-polished about every 8 to 10 years. Having been newly polished it would be normal for a new scabbard to be made, requiring each scabbard maker to produce approximately 150 scabbards per year that would in turn be passed onto the two lacquer workers to finish the scabbards. 

Ian Bottomley
 

I found this para in your post most interesting, and begged from me this question. Its in respect of the time taken to 'polish' long and short swords, 8 and 3 days. Now today the result of a polish has known expectations, and the amount of detail revealed is expected, and the work costed accordingly. But in the day in the village shop, would a 'polish' be as we know it, or conversely just rust removal, chip correction and a re-sharpen? I wondered, as 8 days on one sword, or 3, would give an army of polishers full time employment! Regards

[IanB]

Dr, Fox,  Ah there you have me. I hope I made it clear that the numbers I came up with were based entirely on rough estimates. By 1665, there was no real fighting so the work of the polishers would in the main be just routine maintenance of the swords in the town. I think it is reasonable to suppose that blades carried around every day in all weathers might well require a refresh every 10 years or so, Just what degree of polish they received I do not know, but probably not as elaborate as a modern good quality polish. What is not in dispute is that the town did manage to sustain 8 polishers and 3 saya makers. Also interesting are the 4 'silver smiths'. These I take to be workers in soft metals, some at least being the makers of kodogu. This was of course a period of transition from an era of warfare to one of an enforced peace. The institution of the daimyo gyoretsu led to the need for more elaborate equipment and on a considerable scale. I have no figures for Tsuyama, but the Maeda of Kanazawa sometimes marched with over 3000 people but more often around 2000 of which 185 were immediate retainers and some 830 were more distant vassals, the remainder being made up of servants, pages and grooms. That was a lot of equipment to keep up to scratch.

Ian B