Template:Short description {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Italic title Template:Infobox weapon
Template:Nihongo is the term for a traditionally-made Japanese blade (日本刀; nihontō)<ref>The Development of Controversies: From the Early Modern Period to Online Discussion Forums, Volume 91 of Linguistic Insights. Studies in Language and Communication, Author Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani, Publisher Peter Lang, 2008, Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN P.150</ref><ref>The Complete Idiot's Guide to World Mythology, Complete Idiot's Guides, Authors Evans Lansing Smith, Nathan Robert Brown, Publisher Penguin, 2008, Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN P.144</ref> in the form of a spear, or more specifically, the straight-headed spear.<ref name="WBAR">Template:Cite book</ref> The martial art of wielding the Template:Transliteration is called Template:Transliteration.
HistoryEdit
The forerunner of the Template:Transliteration is thought to be a Template:Transliteration derived from a Chinese spear. These Template:Transliteration are thought to be from the Nara period (710–794).<ref>Japan and China: Japan, its history, arts, and literature, Frank Brinkley, T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1903 p.156</ref><ref>The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords, Kōkan Nagayama, Kodansha International, p.49</ref>
The term Template:Transliteration appeared for the first time in written sources in 1334, but this type of spear did not become popular until the late 15th century.<ref name="Friday">Template:Cite book</ref> The original warfare of the Template:Transliteration was not a thing for commoners; it was a ritualized combat usually between two warriors who would challenge each other via horseback archery.<ref name= "Deal">Template:Cite book</ref> In the late Heian period, battles on foot began to increase and Template:Transliteration, a bladed polearm, became a main weapon along with a yumi (longbow).<ref name = "toukennagi">Basic knowledge of naginata and nagamaki. Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum, Touken World</ref>
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.<ref name= "Deal"/> Polearms (including Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration) 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.<ref name= "Deal"/>
In the Nanbokuchō period, battles on foot by groups became the mainstream and the importance of Template:Transliteration further increased, but Template:Transliteration 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 Template:Transliteration (foot peasant troops) fought on foot and in close quarters, and yari, Template:Transliteration (longbow) and Template:Transliteration (Japanese matchlock) became the main weapons. This made Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration obsolete on the battlefield, and they were often replaced with Template:Transliteration and short, lightweight Template:Transliteration.<ref name = "toukennagi"/><ref name = "toukenssw">Arms for battle – spears, swords, bows. Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum, Touken World</ref><ref name ="en20p42">Kazuhiko Inada (2020), Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords. p42. Template:ISBN</ref><ref name="rekishi200940">歴史人 September 2020. pp.40–41. Template:ASIN</ref>
Around the latter half of the 16th century, Template:Transliteration holding pikes (Template:Transliteration) with length of Template:Convert 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 Template:Transliteration 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 (ja:日本号) 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.<ref name="rekishi128">歴史人 September 2020. pp.128–135. Template:ASIN</ref><ref>Three Great Spears of Japan. Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum, Touken World.</ref>
With the coming of the Edo period the Template:Transliteration 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, Template:Transliteration were still produced (sometimes even by renowned swordsmiths), although they existed mostly as either a ceremonial weapon or as a police weapon.<ref name="rekishi128"/>
DescriptionEdit
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Template:Transliteration were characterized by a straight blade that could be anywhere from several centimeters to Template:Convert or more in length.<ref name="WBAR"/> The blades were made of the same steel (Template:Transliteration) from which traditional Japanese swords and arrowheads were forged, and were very durable.<ref name="WBAR"/> Throughout history many variations of the straight Template:Transliteration blade were produced, often with protrusions on a central blade. Template:Transliteration blades often had an extremely long tang (Template:Transliteration; 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 (Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration) resulting in a very stiff shaft making it nearly impossible for the blade to fall or break off.<ref name="WBAR"/>
The shaft (Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration) 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 (Template:Transliteration), and affixed with a metal pommel (Template:Transliteration; 石突) on the butt end. Template:Transliteration shafts were often decorated with inlays of metal or semiprecious materials such as brass pins, lacquer, or flakes of pearl. A sheath (Template:Transliteration; 鞘) was also part of a complete Template:Transliteration.<ref name="WBAR"/>
Variations of Template:Transliteration bladesEdit
Template:More citations needed section
Various types of Template:Transliteration points or blades existed. The most common blade was a straight, flat design that resembles a straight-bladed double edged dagger.<ref name="WBAR"/> This type of blade could cut as well as stab and was sharpened like a razor edge. Though Template:Transliteration is a catchall term for 'spear', it is usually distinguished between Template:Transliteration, which have additional horizontal blades, and simple Template:Transliteration (Template:Transliteration) or straight spears. Template:Transliteration can also be distinguished by the types of blade cross section: the triangular sections were called Template:Transliteration and the diamond sections were called Template:Transliteration.<ref name="WBAR"/>
- Template:Nihongo3 have a point that resembles a narrow spike with a triangular cross-section. A Template:Transliteration therefore had no cutting edge, only a sharp point at the end. The Template:Transliteration was therefore best suited for penetrating armor, even armor made of metal, which a standard yari was not as suited to.<ref name="WBAR"/> There are two types of Template:Transliteration: Template:Transliteration, Template:Transliteration blades with a triangular, equilateral cross section, and Template:Transliteration, Template:Transliteration with a triangular, isosceles-shaped cross section.
- Template:Transliteration, a blade with a diamond shaped cross section.
- Template:Nihongo3 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.
- Template:Nihongo3 were one of the rarest types of Template:Transliteration, possessing only a single edge. This created a weapon that could be used for hacking and closely resembled a Template:Transliteration. Template:Transliteration are the only Template:Transliteration which use a Template:Transliteration.
- Template:Nihongo3 had a very broad, "spade-shaped" head. Template:Transliteration often had a pair of holes centering the two ovoid halves.
- Template:Nihongo3, also called Template:Nihongo3, looked something similar to a trident or partisan, and brandishing two curved side blades pointing upward. It is occasionally referred to as Template:Transliteration in modern weaponry texts.
- Template:Transliteration, a Template:Transliteration with one side blade pointing downward and one side blade pointing upward.
- Template:Transliteration, a Template:Transliteration with the two side blades pointing downward.
- Template:Transliteration, a Template:Transliteration with the two side blades resembling a pair of buffalo horns.
- Template:Nihongo3 gets its name from a peasant weapon or tool called Template:Transliteration (lit. "sickle" or "scythe").
- Template:Nihongo3 had a weapon design sporting a blade that was two-pronged. Instead of being constructed like a military fork, a straight blade (as in Template:Transliteration) 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.
- Template:Nihongo3 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.
- Template:Nihongo3 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.
- Template:Nihongo3 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.
- Template:Transliteration, an old form of Template:Transliteration possibly from the Nara period (710–794),<ref>The new generation of Japanese swordsmiths, Tamio Tsuchiko, Kenji Mishina, Kodansha International, 2002 p.15</ref> a guard's spear with Template:Convert pole and Template:Convert blade either leaf-shaped or waved (like keris); a sickle-shaped horn projected on one or both sides at the joint of blade.<ref>The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of universal knowledge, Volume 15 Encyclopedia Americana Corp., 1919 p.745</ref> The Template:Transliteration had a hollow socket like the later period Template:Transliteration for the pole to fit into rather than a long tang.<ref>The Japanese sword Kanzan Satō, Kodansha International, 1983 P.63</ref>
- Template:Nihongo3, a broad Template:Transliteration described as being "leaf shaped" or "bamboo leaf shaped".<ref>The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords, Kōkan Nagayama, Kodansha International, 1998 p.49</ref>
- Template:Nihongo3 (also known as Template:Transliteration), a straight double edged blade.<ref name="books.google.com">The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords, Kōkan Nagayama, Kodansha International, 1998, P.49</ref>
- Template:Transliteration (Template:Transliteration), an extra long Template:Transliteration blade.<ref name="books.google.com"/>
- Template:Nihongo3
- Template:Nihongo3<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Variations of Template:Transliteration shaftsEdit
A Template:Transliteration shaft can range in length from Template:Convert, with some in excess of 6 metres.
- Template:Nihongo3: Template:Convert long, a type of pike used by Template:Transliteration.<ref>Fighting techniques of the Oriental world, AD 1200–1860: equipment, combat skills, and tactics, Authors Michael E. Haskew, Christer Joregensen, Eric Niderost, Chris McNab, Publisher Macmillan, 2008, Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN P.44</ref><ref>Ashigaru 1467–1649, Stephen Turnbull, Howard Gerrard, Osprey Publishing, 2001, P.19</ref> It was especially used by Oda clan Template:Transliteration 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 Template:Transliteration soldiers extra-long pikes in order for them to be more effective against armoured opponents and cavalry, and fighting in groups and formations.
- Template:Nihongo3, a long spear used by Template:Transliteration and samurai.<ref>Ashigaru 1467–1649, Authors Stephen Turnbull, Howard Gerrard, Illustrated by Howard Gerrard, Publisher Osprey Publishing, 2001, Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN P.23</ref>
- Template:Nihongo3. The shaft goes through a hollow metal tube that allowed the spear to be twisted during thrusting. This style of Template:Transliteration is typified in the school Template:Transliteration.
- Template:Nihongo3. A Template:Transliteration with a short simple shaft that was kept by the bedside for home protection.<ref>Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior, Author Clive Sinclaire, Publisher Globe Pequot, 2004, Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN P.119</ref>
- Template:Nihongo3. A Template:Transliteration with a short shaft that was used by samurai and police to help capture criminals.<ref>Taiho-jutsu: law and order in the age of the samurai, Author, Don Cunningham, Publisher Tuttle Publishing, 2004, Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN P.44</ref>
GalleryEdit
- Kikuchi yari 99.jpg
- Sasaho tsukuri hira sankaku yari.jpg
- Sansaku yari 9.jpg
- Ryo shinogi fukuro yari.jpg
- Yari tachiuchi or tachiuke.JPG
Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration, the reinforced upper part of the shaft
- Estampe-p1000685.jpg
Ukiyo-e print of a samurai general holding a Template:Transliteration in his right hand
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Japanese (samurai) weapons, armour and equipment Template:Pole weapons