Yari Explained

Type:	Spear
Sheath Type:	Lacquered wood
Origin:	Japan
Is Bladed:	yes
Production Date:	Nara period (710–794) for Hoko yari, Muromachi period (1333–1568) for Yari, since 1334
Weight:	1.27kg (02.8lb)
Part Length:	NaNcm (-2,147,483,648inches)
Length:	NaNm (-2,147,483,648feet)
Blade Type:	multiple blade shapes
Hilt Type:	Wood, horn, lacquer

is the term for a traditionally-made Japanese blade (日本刀; nihontō)^{[1] [2]} in the form of a spear, or more specifically, the straight-headed spear.^[3] The martial art of wielding the is called .

History

The forerunner of the is thought to be a derived from a Chinese spear. These are thought to be from the Nara period (710–794).^{[4] [5]}

The term appeared for the first time in written sources in 1334, but this type of spear did not become popular until the late 15th century.^[6] The original warfare of the was not a thing for commoners; it was a ritualized combat usually between two warriors who would challenge each other via horseback archery.^[7] In the late Heian period, battles on foot began to increase and, a bladed polearm, became a main weapon along with a yumi (longbow).^[8]

The attempted Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 was one of the factors that changed Japanese weaponry and warfare. The Mongols employed Chinese and Korean footmen wielding long pikes and fought in tight formations. They moved in large units to stave off cavalry.^[7] Polearms (including and) were of much greater military use than swords, due to their significantly longer reach, lighter weight per unit length (though overall a polearm would be fairly hefty), and their great piercing ability.^[7]

In the Nanbokuchō period, battles on foot by groups became the mainstream and the importance of further increased, but were not yet the main weapon. However, after the Onin War in 15th century in the Muromachi period, large-scale group battles started in which mobilized (foot peasant troops) fought on foot and in close quarters, and yari, (longbow) and (Japanese matchlock) became the main weapons. This made and obsolete on the battlefield, and they were often replaced with and short, lightweight .^{[8] [9] [10] [11]}

Around the latter half of the 16th century, holding pikes with length of 4.5to became the main forces in armies. They formed lines, combined with soldiers bearing firearms tanegashima and short spears. Pikemen formed a two- or three-row line, and were trained to move their pikes in unison under command. Not only but also samurai fought on the battlefield with yari as one of their main weapons. For example, Honda Tadakatsu was famous as a master of one of The Three Great Spears of Japan, the Tonbokiri (蜻蛉切). One of The Three Great Spears of Japan, the Nihongō was treasured as a gift, and its ownership changed to Emperor Ogimachi, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Fukushima Masanori, and so on, and has been handed down to the present day.^{[12] [13]}

With the coming of the Edo period the had fallen into disuse. Greater emphasis was placed on small-scale, close quarters combat, so the convenience of swords led to their dominance, and polearms and archery lost their practical value. During the peaceful Edo period, were still produced (sometimes even by renowned swordsmiths), although they existed mostly as either a ceremonial weapon or as a police weapon.^[12]

Description

were characterized by a straight blade that could be anywhere from several centimeters to or more in length.^[3] The blades were made of the same steel from which traditional Japanese swords and arrowheads were forged, and were very durable.^[3] Throughout history many variations of the straight blade were produced, often with protrusions on a central blade. blades often had an extremely long tang (; 中心); typically it would be longer than the sharpened portion of the blade. The tang protruded into a reinforced hollow portion of the handle (or) resulting in a very stiff shaft making it nearly impossible for the blade to fall or break off.^[3]

The shaft (or) came in many different lengths, widths, and shapes; made of hardwood and covered in lacquered bamboo strips, these came in oval, round, or polygonal cross section. These in turn were often wrapped in metal rings or wire, and affixed with a metal pommel (; 石突) on the butt end. shafts were often decorated with inlays of metal or semiprecious materials such as brass pins, lacquer, or flakes of pearl. A sheath (; 鞘) was also part of a complete .^[3]

Variations of blades

Various types of points or blades existed. The most common blade was a straight, flat design that resembles a straight-bladed double edged dagger.^[3] This type of blade could cut as well as stab and was sharpened like a razor edge. Though is a catchall term for 'spear', it is usually distinguished between, which have additional horizontal blades, and simple or straight spears. can also be distinguished by the types of blade cross section: the triangular sections were called and the diamond sections were called .^[3]

• have a point that resembles a narrow spike with a triangular cross-section. A therefore had no cutting edge, only a sharp point at the end. The was therefore best suited for penetrating armor, even armor made of metal, which a standard yari was not as suited to.^[3] There are two types of :, blades with a triangular, equilateral cross section, and, with a triangular, isosceles-shaped cross section.
• , a blade with a diamond shaped cross section.
• were mounted to a shaft by means of a metal socket instead of a tang. The socket and blade are forged from a single piece.
• were one of the rarest types of, possessing only a single edge. This created a weapon that could be used for hacking and closely resembled a . are the only which use a .
• had a very broad, "spade-shaped" head. often had a pair of holes centering the two ovoid halves.

• , also called, looked something similar to a trident or partisan, and brandishing two curved side blades pointing upward. It is occasionally referred to as in modern weaponry texts.
  • , a with one side blade pointing downward and one side blade pointing upward.
  • , a with the two side blades pointing downward.
  • , a with the two side blades resembling a pair of buffalo horns.
• gets its name from a peasant weapon or tool called (lit. "sickle" or "scythe").

• had a weapon design sporting a blade that was two-pronged. Instead of being constructed like a military fork, a straight blade (as in) was intersected just below its midsection by a perpendicular blade. This blade was slightly shorter than the primary, had curved tips making a parallelogram, and was set off center so that only 1/6 of its length extended on the other side. This formed a rough 'L' shape.
• barely looked like a spear at all. A polearm that had a crescent blade for a spearhead, which could be used for slashing and hooking.
• was a key-shaped spear with a long blade with a side hook much like that found on a fauchard. This could be used to catch another weapon, or even dismount a rider mounted on horseback.
• possessed some of the most ornate designs for any spear. Running parallel to the long central blade were two 'crescent moon' shaped blades facing outwards. They were attached in two locations by short cross bars, making the head look somewhat like a fleur-de-lis.
• , an old form of possibly from the Nara period (710–794),^[14] a guard's spear with 6feet pole and 8inches blade either leaf-shaped or waved (like keris); a sickle-shaped horn projected on one or both sides at the joint of blade.^[15] The had a hollow socket like the later period for the pole to fit into rather than a long tang.^[16]
• , a broad described as being "leaf shaped" or "bamboo leaf shaped".^[17]
• (alao known as), a straight double edged blade.^[18]
• , an extra long blade.^[18]
  • ^[19]

Variations of shafts

A shaft can range in length from 1-, with some in excess of 6 metres.

• : 16.4to long, a type of pike used by .^{[20] [21]} It was especially used by Oda clan beginning from the reign of Oda Nobunaga; samurai tradition of the time held that the soldiers of the rural province of Owari were among the weakest in Japan. Kantō was a chaotic place; Kansai was home to the Shogunate, and the Uesugi, Takeda, Imagawa, and Hojo clans, as well as pirate raiders from Shikoku. Additionally, Kyushu was home of one of the most warmongering clans in Japan, the Shimazu clan. Because of this, Nobunaga armed his underperforming soldiers extra-long pikes in order for them to be more effective against armoured opponents and cavalry, and fighting in groups and formations.
• , a long spear used by and samurai.^[22]
• . The shaft goes through a hollow metal tube that allowed the spear to be twisted during thrusting. This style of is typified in the school .
• . A with a short simple shaft that was kept by the bedside for home protection.^[23]
• . A with a short shaft that was used by samurai and police to help capture criminals.^[24]

See also

• Japanese sword
• Three Great Spears of Japan
• Nunti Bo
• Naginata

External links

• Nihonto message board forum
• Richard Stein's Japanese sword guide

Notes and References

1. https://books.google.com/books?id=PtBci2GslUkC&dq=nihonto+refers+to&pg=PA150 The Development of Controversies: From the Early Modern Period to Online Discussion Forums
2. https://books.google.com/books?id=f-RsCs5dJRwC&dq=traditionally+made+a+Japanese+sword+nihonto&pg=PA144 The Complete Idiot's Guide to World Mythology
3. Book: Ratti, Oscar . Adele Westbrook . Secrets of the Samurai: The Martial Arts of Feudal Japan. Tuttle Publishing. 1991. 484. 978-0-8048-1684-7 .
4. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_5ukVAAAAYAAJ/page/n189 Japan and China: Japan, its history, arts, and literature
5. https://books.google.com/books?id=zPyswmGDBFkC&pg=PA49 The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords
6. Book: Friday, Karl . Karl Friday . Samurai, Warfare and The State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. 2004. 87. 0-415-32962-0 .
7. Book: Deal, William E . Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press . 432. 2007. 978-0-19-533126-4 .
8. https://web.archive.org/web/20201124014052/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/25694/ Basic knowledge of naginata and nagamaki.
9. https://web.archive.org/web/20201226054428/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/45927/ Arms for battle – spears, swords, bows.
10. Kazuhiko Inada (2020), Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords. p42.
11. 歴史人 September 2020. pp.40–41.
12. 歴史人 September 2020. pp.128–135.
13. https://web.archive.org/web/20210603130328/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/17669/ Three Great Spears of Japan.
14. https://books.google.com/books?id=BWy3gx-0PR8C&dq=extant+hoko+yari&pg=PA15 The new generation of Japanese swordsmiths
15. https://books.google.com/books?id=yrVPAAAAMAAJ&dq=tatami%20armor&pg=PA745 The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of universal knowledge
16. https://books.google.com/books?id=vFS2iT8QjqEC&dq=hoko+yari&pg=PA63 The Japanese sword
17. https://books.google.com/books?id=zPyswmGDBFkC&dq=sasaho+yari&pg=PA49 The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords
18. https://books.google.com/books?id=zPyswmGDBFkC&dq=omi+yari&pg=PA49 The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords
19. Web site: Armstrong . Hunter B. . The Sliding Yari of the Owari Kan Ryu . www.koryu.com . 29 October 2020.
20. https://books.google.com/books?id=1fb7tBwv4ZYC&dq=nagae+yari&pg=PA44 Fighting techniques of the Oriental world, AD 1200–1860: equipment, combat skills, and tactics
21. https://books.google.com/books?id=39cDtcRORS8C&dq=yari+shafts&pg=PA18 Ashigaru 1467–1649
22. https://books.google.com/books?id=39cDtcRORS8C&dq=palanquin+yari&pg=PA23 Ashigaru 1467–1649
23. https://books.google.com/books?id=IQ3FAZG94ZsC&dq=pillow+yari&pg=PA119 Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior
24. https://archive.org/details/taihojutsulaword00donc/page/44 Taiho-jutsu: law and order in the age of the samurai