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Jumonji yari


Ken-Hawaii

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My new yari arrived this afternoon. The mumei blade definitely needs to be polished, but I am wondering about the shaft. The wood is in decent shape, but looks like it could use a good oil soaking. The tachiuchi & tachi ba hiri are in good condition, but I'm not sure if I should ever attach the nakago in case the shaft might split. There are several dogane & kuchigane, & they & the gyakura all have surface rust, but feel sturdy.

 

My question is whether I should be doing anything to the shaft & all its parts. This isn't like a Nihonto where I can carefully oil the blade & put it into a shirasaya, & because I live in a humid climate (I can throw a rock into the Pacific Ocean across the street!), I'd like some expert opinions on how to proceed. Thanks!

 

Ken

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....I live in a humid climate (I can throw a rock into the Pacific Ocean across the street!).....

So the conditions are similar to those in Japan.

I use TSUBAKI oil for these purposes. Unlike TUNG oil it will not polymerize and form a hard protective layer which is desirable if the wood is deteriorating.

 

Good success!

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Hi Ken,

Speaking as a furniture maker: If you apply oil to the shaft you will alter its appearance and protect it from liquid water that might contact the surface. You will do nothing to increase the strength of the wood nor will you be changing how it reacts to humidity. No finish can make wood stronger than it is and nothing shy of encasement in a thick layer of solid plastic stops wood from gaining or losing moisture as the humidity of its environment changes (as we say in my craft: wood moves; deal with it.)

Grey

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Geraint, I'll post photos after I get the blade polished - not exactly in pristine condition right now....

 

Grey, that's pretty much what I figured. But the wood sure looks dry in some areas!

 

Thanks for the spelling correction, Jean! I've changed the subject title.

 

Ken

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Okay, I changed my mind on showing the current condition of my yari. Here are a couple of quick shots:

 

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/2405/jumonji1.jpg

 

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/1341/jumonji2.jpg

 

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/1181 ... xtents.jpg

 

I'm not going to try & take photos of the shaft right now, but it's period-appropriate.

 

By the way, does anyone happen to know anything about the period(s) & smiths who made Jumōnji yari?

 

Ken

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Hello,

 

The correct name for this type of weapon is: MAGARI-YARI, but it is often referred to as JUMONJI or even JYUJI, due to its shape + ten.

 

They appeared first from the 1400's although it is mentioned in writings as three-bladed lances as early as year 500.

 

As we know them now, they are 1400 productions and forwards.

 

Smiths like; Tadayoshi, Inoue Shinkai, Yamamura Kiyomaru, Tsuta Sukehiro, Muramasa, Suishinshi Naotane and possibly the Yamato Kanetsugu line where the greatest YARI smiths.

 

/Martin

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The Peabody Museum in Salem has several yari that appear to have been acquired in a new condition. Almost all the yari I encounter have the shafts smooth and well patinated by time and handling. Those in the Peabody had the un-lacquered part of the shaft still pale coloured, like freshly cut timber. I also remember they showed longitudinal facets like tool marks but they may well have been the type that are intentionally polygonal in cross-section.

Although it is a little off the thread, I once had a yari, entirely covered in mother-of-pearl set in black lacquer, whose construction was of segments of bamboo like a fishing rod. You could only see this at the top of the shaft, under the iron habaki.

Ian Bottomley

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Ian, the shaft of my new yari looks very much like the Peabody shafts you describe:

 

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/9208/tachibahiri.jpg

 

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/1492 ... iriclo.jpg

 

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/5737 ... rumaki.jpg

 

The pale-colored wood is what seems the most fragile, although it will still hold the blade very firmly. There are also two mekugiana on the shaft, neither of which comes close matching the one on the blade - a bit strange that, as the nakago appears to be ubu. :dunno:

 

Ken

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Ken, Sadly, someone has stripped all the lacquer and reinforcing bindings from the shaft of your yari. This is why the wood is so pale and presumably the tool marks are still visible in that region. Notice the patina on the lower part of the shaft - it has age and has been handled a lot. In order to fit the tang, the upper part of a yari shaft has to be sawn in half lengthways so that the cavity can be carved out. The two parts are then glued and bound together before being lacquered, or given some other treatment like covering with rayskin or leather to hide the joint. This is why all of the fittings, which also reinforce this joint, are so loose on the shaft. On many yari one of the reinforcing rings actually covers the peg-hole, being made double with the outer layer rotating around the other so that when the peg is inserted, the outer ring can be rotated to lock it in place. If the peg hole doesn't line up, it maybe the wrong shaft for your jumonji yari head.

During the Edo period, very tall yari with heraldic-shaped scabbards were carried at the head of a daimyo's procession to identify who was travelling. Many of these yari, which could be 15 foot long or more, had jumonji heads. I have the top of what may have been one that sadly has been cut down to a mere 6 feet or so. I have also seen one that was collapsible - after all it was never used for anything but an identification symbol. The shaft was in about 3 foot lengths, hinged together by plates working in slots in the wood. when aligned, a metal tube slid over the joint locking it in the extended position. It must have made handling and storage a heck of a lot easier.

Ian Bottomley

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Ken, Whilst I am not a advocate of restoration but you have nothing to lose re-covering the upper part of the shaft - after all nothing remains of the original and you do appear to have all the metal fittings. If nothing else, it will teach you an awful lot about how yari were made. If it were mine, I would have a go at re-covering the upper part of the shaft with either leather, or better still that fine grained dark same. You will have to get the diameters right for the various fittings by covering the bare shaft with layers of paper or thread, but it would be an enjoyable project.

Ian

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Ken, Have a look on Google at as many yari as you can, to get an idea of what is needed. What you will have to do is build up the bare part of your shaft to the same tapering diameter as it was originally. You should be able to estimate how much has been lost by noting the gap between the wood and the lower metal mount just above the cord hand stop. How you fill the gap is up to you, but it needs to be reasonably solid when finished. Perhaps the simplest would be to wrap the shaft in thin cord, coating it with lacquer or varnish afterwards. If needed you could build up the diameter first with layers of glued paper. You can also trap the rings in position with extra bindings above and below them. Some yari were finished this way. You could also as I suggested cover the shaft with same or leather. What you are aiming for is a smooth taper such that the various fitting push on from the top and jam in place at the right position. If you really feel adventurous, you could break up pieces of abalone shell, glue them on the shaft and then fill the gaps between them with lacquer. I will tell you now it takes a heck of a lot of rubbing down to smooth down to a good finish but if you pick small pieces of the right thickness and glue them close together, it reduces the work. This was a favourite finish in the Edo period.

 

Have fun

Ian Bottomley

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Ken,

 

In a similar situation I had some trouble finding white eggs, but I did. Used xxactly the method Ian described, but without the seafood. From experience I can tell abalone is very hard and it takes a whetstone to polish it, sandpaper didn't work very well.

 

Good luck,

Eric K.

post-979-14196835026984_thumb.jpg

post-979-14196835029377_thumb.jpg

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Ken,

 

Aloha from Kauai!

 

A couple years ago, I coordinated (brokered at no cost) the sale of the yari and naginata between a family friend and an anonymous Hawaii Kendo Federation nanadan sensei. The shafts (I apologize, but I don't have good close-up photos) were done very well. I'll try checking with him, and if he agrees, we'll set something up so that you can look at these pieces for guidance...if you'd be interested, that is.

 

IMG_1218.jpg

 

If you'd want to know more about that yari, I can post photos of the mei and origami or send via private message later.

 

In case you want to see additional examples of abalone inlays, I'll post a couple photos my wife took several years ago in Japan while we visited with an old family sharing our surname and viewed their family and shrine collections.

 

DSC00178C.jpg

DSC00176C.jpg

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Wow! Thanks to all three of you for helping out with my project! :bowdown:

 

Obviously being knowledgeable about Nihonto doesn't translate all that well to yari shaft components, & I really appreciate the images & ideas you're passing along. Right now, I'm concentrating on getting Bob Benson's deshi, Woody Hall, to find time to work on the blade's polish, hopefully in time for me to show it at our sword exhibition the end of September. I've also ordered Knudsen's Japanese Polearms book, & hopefully it will give me some clues on how to get started on the shaft, as well as examples.

 

Lord knows I'm not the world's best woodworker (just ask my wife!), but we have a full set of tools. Thanks, again!

 

Ken

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Eric, If you ever go down the eggshell route again, don't bother about finding white ones, use the inside surface - they are always white. The trick is to leave the membrane attached to a patch of shell so that when pressed onto a scabbard or whatever it holds all the minute pieces together until they are attached by the glue. You then peel off the membrane and fill the gaps with lacquer.

Ian Bottomley

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Thanks for those sets of close-ups, Piers. They give me some ideas, but I'm not sure if I have the right materials to proceed.

 

I have several square feet of white samegawa; several types of cordage, including some that I hand-made from local plants; a plethora of eggshells from our ducks; our local equivalent of wicker; &, interestingly, a very large mango tree that produces urushiol in its sap. Of course red lacquer & black paint are available locally, too. Now what I need is a plan of attack to build up the yari shaft, & I think may have to wait for the polearms book to get that level of detail.

 

Ken

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Okay, just got the Knudsen polearms book, & it has a lot of useful info...but nothing at all on repair or rebuilding of the yari shaft. So I guess I have to put my engineer's brain in low gear & move forward.

 

Ian, let me ask a very basic question. Once the yari nakago is inserted into the tachi ba hiri & the mekugi is in place, is that when the shaft wrapping takes place? And, if that's so, how is the blade removed later? Or is it removed at all? I guess I'm used to being able to take Nihonto apart for study or cleaning, so if the shaft is permanently bonded to the blade, I'm scratching my head as to why it was done that way.

 

Ken

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