yari tanto

[estcrh]

Thought I would share some pics of this interesting yari tanto, here is a link to some more detailed pics.

http://s831.photobucket.com/albums/zz238/estcrh/Antique%20samurai%20yari%20tanto/

[Bugyotsuji]

How far down inside the Saya does the blade go? How long is it, and how do they compare in length? Is there a Kozuka/Kogai for the Hitsu ana in the Saya? What I am getting it is, do you think the Saya was made specially for this Yari, or could a pre-existing Saya have been adapted to take this Yari?

[estcrh]

How far down inside the Saya does the blade go? How long is it, and how do they compare in length? Is there a Kozuka/Kogai for the Hitsu ana in the Saya? What I am getting it is, do you think the Saya was made specially for this Yari, or could a pre-existing Saya have been adapted to take this Yari?

I am out of town right now but I realized that I need to take a few more pictures. Did you see the pictures I posted on photobucket? I have wondered about that myself, if you look at the openings of the tsuka it looks like it was made for this yari but I need to take a better look and see if the saya is the same and how long the yari is compared to the saya and if there were any alterations done. Someone did go to a lot of work to have this made into a tanto though considering that regular tantos would have readily available. I will post some more pics when I get home.

[IanB]

Eric, Piers, These are not uncommon, I have seen maybe half a dozen over the years. The koshirae were obviously made to take the blade with its cut-down tangs since you could hardly get a yari blade into the cavity made for a regular tanto blade. Presumably they were made for stabbing with, particularly for armour piercing.

Ian Bottomley

[estcrh]

Eric, Piers, These are not uncommon, I have seen maybe half a dozen over the years. The koshirae were obviously made to take the blade with its cut-down tangs since you could hardly get a yari blade into the cavity made for a regular tanto blade. Presumably they were made for stabbing with, particularly for armour piercing.

Ian Bottomley

Thanks, except for this one I have only seen them in pictures and then very rarely, and its been stored since being purchased until recently, this is the first time I have actually taken a close look at it. Well they certainly were not made for cutting, it would do some damage to armor or chainmail by the looks of it.

[Bugyotsuji]

Eric, I have one of these myself and it is as Ian said. They are a nice object to have at hand, but not terribly valuable in the scale of things. Mine is probably worth less than 800 GBP. (?) When Ian said armour/armor piercing, he was probably referring to Yoroi-doushi, which strictly speaking was pushed between the gaps in the armor/armour to finish someone off.

[estcrh]

Eric, I have one of these myself and it is as Ian said. They are a nice object to have at hand, but not terribly valuable in the scale of things. Mine is probably worth less than 800 GBP. (?) When Ian said armour/armor piercing, he was probably referring to Yoroi-doushi, which strictly speaking was pushed between the gaps in the armor/armour to finish someone off.

If you have any pics I would love to see it, yari tanto would have worked good against chainmail or other kinds of armored clothing......I have a yoroi-doshi .5 in at the motogasane, it would certainly have done the job, I will post some pics, and 800 GBP is worth a lot more than $800 but you would be suprised how much the more rare weapons sell for sometimes.

[Bugyotsuji]

Here you go then. Please do post your pics!

[leo]

Hi,

there are also yari katana as you can see on these pictures!

In this case it´s a 73cm long sankaku yari signed Kyushu Higo Dotanuki with Hozon Paper, cut above the mei and mounted as a katana. A very solid piece!

 

Regards, Martin

[Bugyotsuji]

Wow! That must be difficult to draw and massively heavy! Nice piece.

[estcrh]

Here you go then. Please do post your pics!

Piers, I will post soon, that is a beauty..I really like the more unusual weapons..that triangle shape would make a horrible wound, sort of like the ww1 trench triangle trench knife, I believe that shape is banned in military knifes by convention as being to inhumane.

[estcrh]

Hi,

there are also yari katana as you can see on these pictures!

In this case it´s a 73cm long sankaku yari signed Kyushu Higo Dotanuki with Hozon Paper, cut above the mei and mounted as a katana. A very solid piece!

 

Regards, Martin

That is an awesome weapon, must be quite heavy, I have seen a picture of one in a shira-saya but not mounted like that. Do you know how old it is?

[leo]

Hi, Eric,

according to the work and signature it should be a late Muromachi blade. There are a couple of Dotanuki who worked in the school between 1570 and 1600 and signed that way but I am pretty shure it´s the one in Hawley (DO-1).

 

Martin

[WellsFargo]

I was once at an arms fair in the Netherlands and I was just looking at some swords when a gentlemen walks up and removes a sword from its sword bag. It was the most beautiful o mi yari with a beautiful handle forged to the blade. It was in Ken mountings.

It was one of the most beautiful and "different" swords I have ever seen. Man, would I like to own that sword. Actually even owning a picture of it would be great. I only saw it once and briefly. I believe a member of the Dutch Token society mentioned that it was probably shinto period. but wow... the handle looked brass-like and had a sculptured "crossbar" as handguard similar to a European sword, so no tsuba....

 

I really love these out of the ordinary weapons as well.

 

 

J.W. Thijssen

[drbvac]

See how beauty is in the eyes - I think with ALL DUE respect that they are as ugly as he"*. Like taking a revolver and adding a stock and some metal to make a rifle - maybe an awesome effective weapon but

[machinist]

I can see the practical nature of the yari tanto in combat but I wonder how the yari katana was used and why it was made. Would it be useful in the same manner as a regular katana?

Did someone without funds need a sword and make do with an available yari blade or did he really want it like this.

I do enjoy seeing such odd weapons.

[estcrh]

See how beauty is in the eyes - I think with ALL DUE respect that they are as ugly as he"*. Like taking a revolver and adding a stock and some metal to make a rifle - maybe an awesome effective weapon but

Brian, your quite right it is a more brutish sort of a weapon, everyone sees things in a different way, its like swords, some people only like brand new polished blades while I can also enjoy swords that look like they did their job and show that they were used. I enjoy all types of samurai items from swords to armor to their clothes, some people only like swords, to each his own.

[IanB]

Martin, Now that is something I have never seen before. A beautiful piece. As I said earlier, the tanto version must have been made for stabbing and yes, for penetrating armour, but just why this weapon was assembled is perplexing. I suppose you could cut with it, but it must have been rather 'blade heavy' as well as heavy to wear. Last weekend I did a stint at the Armouries and to pander to the management wore kamishimo and swords for the day. My hip soon told me why you see so many bushi carrying their katana in their left hand.

Ian Bottomley

[Bugyotsuji]

Martin, Now that is something I have never seen before. A beautiful piece. As I said earlier, the tanto version must have been made for stabbing and yes, for penetrating armour, but just why this weapon was assembled is perplexing. I suppose you could cut with it, but it must have been rather 'blade heavy' as well as heavy to wear. Last weekend I did a stint at the Armouries and to pander to the management wore kamishimo and swords for the day. My hip soon told me why you see so many bushi carrying their katana in their left hand.

Ian Bottomley

 

Haha, Ian, that sounds very good! Any pictures?

 

(We tend to wear Tachi hanging free from the obi, which works well with full armor/armour, though a couple of members push a Tanto through the sash. Tachi sage is much more comfortable, but it gets caught and bumped and banged everywhere, doing gradually more and more damage to the Koshirae.)

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Martin, Now that is something I have never seen before. A beautiful piece.

 

Hi Ian. I'm pretty sure the posted one was for sale in Germany quiet sometime ago. Indeed not an everyday occurrence. Here another one, differently mounted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

but just why this weapon was assembled is perplexing. I suppose you could cut with it, but it must have been rather 'blade heavy' as well as heavy to wear.

 

I can see the practical nature of the yari tanto in combat but I wonder how the yari katana was used and why it was made. Would it be useful in the same manner as a regular katana?

 

if this blade is the same I once saw, the tsuka is disaxed to give some sort of help in drawing the blade. Much like some early Tachi.

I wonder if these items are not related to an attempt to elude some restrictive law about weapons issued in Edojidai. Rather then have them confiscated the owner decided to screen them behind the status of "Daito of a Samurai", not implying it was necessarely meant to be worn. IMHO there is no way such an item is even only close to a Katana in any other aspect of real life.

[IanB]

Piers, There is enough misery and suffering in this world without pictures of me wearing Japanese costume.

The second example may explain something. This looks a very Meiji koshirae. Could it be that this was put together to persuade a foreign tourist to part with his money for a 'very rare treasure'?

Ian

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

The second example may explain something. This looks a very Meiji koshirae. Could it be that this was put together to persuade a foreign tourist to part with his money for a 'very rare treasure'?

 

Very plausible.

What struck me in that one is the placement of the "Habaki" (as to say the choos of the nakago's lenght/tsuka lenght)...

[Eric H]

A very rare shape of Yari is the so-called KIKUCHI-YARI...the example I have added is from the Sue-Enju school.

 

38.9 cm - muzori - motohaba 2.33 cm - Kasane 1.0 cm - mumei - made in the late Nanbokucho or early Muromachi period.

 

Kikuchi Takeshige in Higo province ordered Enju school swordsmiths to make Yari, those Yari are single edged like a Tanto, and this style is called Kikuchi-Yari.

 

Eric

[estcrh]

A very rare shape of Yari is the so-called KIKUCHI-YARI...the example I have added is from the Sue-Enju school.

 

38.9 cm - muzori - motohaba 2.33 cm - Kasane 1.0 cm - mumei - made in the late Nanbokucho or early Muromachi period.

 

Kikuchi Takeshige in Higo province ordered Enju school swordsmiths to make Yari, those Yari are single edged like a Tanto, and this style is called Kikuchi-Yari.

 

Eric

I have never seen this type of yari before, here is another picture i found after a google search,

[estcrh]

Another interesting yari, http://www.japanauctioncenter.com/view2.php?seturl=http://page2.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b107653427

[leo]

Dear Brian,

I guess you are right if you compare the shape of such a sword with the elegance of a katana of traditional design.

Let´s rather take it as what it is: a curiosity, but still a weapon. For purists, it could be remounted in a shirasaya anytime.

By the way, I think that it was never really used as a sword. While the tanto size might be practical for piercing an chainmail, the tsuka of this long yari blade would not give enough leverage to use it effectively for thrusts.

My guess is that it might have been a gift to a buddhist shrine, as it closely resembles the typical buddhist symbol "ken".

 

Regards, Martin S

[estcrh]

How far down inside the Saya does the blade go? How long is it, and how do they compare in length? Is there a Kozuka/Kogai for the Hitsu ana in the Saya? What I am getting it is, do you think the Saya was made specially for this Yari, or could a pre-existing Saya have been adapted to take this Yari?

I finally got to take some more pictures. It looks like the saya was made for this yari, but the saya is much longer than needed? There is no Kozuka/Kogai, from the tsuba to the point is 9in.

[Bugyotsuji]

Ah thanks for the piccies. Yes, it's definitely designed to look like something else. A kind of

reverse Shikomi. Not an umbrella or walking stick that is really a sword, but a Wakizashi that

is really a spearhead. No other need for the extra length, or for the sori in the saya. Ultimately,

besides the beauty of the spear point itself, these are enjoyable mostly for their novelty value,

and in the assembly and disassembly, I guess. Everybody should have one anyway! :lol:

[Lorenzo]

Another (rather small ) yari tanto for sell here:

http://www.tsuruginoya.com/mn1_3/a00114.html

[estcrh]

Another (rather small ) yari tanto for sell here:

http://www.tsuruginoya.com/mn1_3/a00114.html

Thanks for the link, I never saw this site before.