Any advice for someone looking for an old jitte/jutte/tetsubo/hachiwari/tekkan?

[Pitt1999]

I must admit, I am a bit of a layman when it comes to Japanese arms. I've always loved them for their exquisite quality and how revered they are. I can mostly feel my way around when purchasing the bladed weapons, I know what the Chinese fakes look like and any of those carved bone hilted objects from the WW2 era don't fool me. I am mostly a collector of general Ethnographic arms from all over the world and I have found that lessons learned from looking for other varieties of Ethnographic weapons have served me well when it comes to Japanese bladed weapons. My confidence wanes when looking to purchase an example of one of the various Japanese percussive weapons mentioned in the title, and after reading this thread below I'm not quite sure I would ever want to risk buying one. They seem far more common than they should be and far cheaper than they should be, especially on ebay. Is there a good way for a layman like me to know what to look for when purchasing one of these weapons? Is the presence of a casting seam a sign that it is a fake? These weapons don't seem to be documented very well and I have trouble finding information about their manufacture. Were they made of cast iron or were they forged? I have seen some information that some hachiwari were made of cast iron, but most information about these various weapons just says they were made of iron (presumably forged). I suppose the only surefire way is to learn up and read some stuff. I've made this opening post far too long already so I'll sum it up like this.

 

TL;DR, help out a bozo looking for an old, authentic Japanese iron stick

[Toryu2020]

Quality pieces can be found, stay away from eBay...

-t

[Toryu2020]

江戸の十手コレクション Edo Jutte Collection by Ide Masanobu

Samurai Weapons by Cunningham

Classical Weaponry of Japan by Mol

[Tensho]

I have the book "Samurai weapons" and to be honest, most of the stuff in there looks worse than what's listed on eBay. I don't know the author, but the way he speaks about Yari being "Cheap and Inexpensive to manufacture " makes me roll my eyes. 

[PNSSHOGUN]

The standard Yari made for Ashigaru were absolutely cheap and inexpensive for the most part, as a simple weapon used to arm thousands of soldiers at a time they needed to be exactly that. Larger Yari are a different matter. 

[Tensho]

  On 11/28/2022 at 12:20 AM, PNSSHOGUN said:

The standard Yari made for Ashigaru were absolutely cheap and inexpensive for the most part, as a simple weapon used to arm thousands of soldiers at a time they needed to be exactly that. Larger Yari are a different matter. 

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What's the standard Yari? 

[PNSSHOGUN]

The button example, 'Fukuro Yari' is the most prolific.

 

http://www.ncjsc.org/gloss_yari.htm

[Tensho]

  On 11/28/2022 at 3:19 AM, PNSSHOGUN said:

The button example, 'Fukuro Yari' is the most prolific.

 

http://www.ncjsc.org/gloss_yari.htm

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I beg to differ. Fukuro yari are few and far between. As someone who collects Yari I maybe see 1 fukuro out of 50(standard nakago) and often see them described as a "rare" shape by Japanese collectors. 

[Bugyotsuji]

There are many of these handheld devices replicated today. You really need to take them in hand and examine them closely to see if it’s a repro or an original example. 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Well there you go, I was under the impression the small socket mount Yari were the most prolific and cheapest. At Himeji castle they hand dozens of them on the walls for display and the small ones were to be found very cheaply online.

[Bugyotsuji]

Agreeing with Tensho for a minute. Genuine fukuro-yari are relatively rare (@1 in 20?), tend to be sought out by collectors, and hold their price well.

 

I hadn’t noticed the ones at Himeji Castle. Next time I’ll keep my eyes peeled!