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Due to this prohibition, several kinds of non-bladed weapons were carried by palace guards. The jitte proved particularly effective and evolved to become the symbol of a palace guard's exalted position. [1] In Edo-period Japan, the jitte was a substitute for a badge, and it represented someone on official business.
In Japan there is a saying about swords: "No sword made by modifying a nagamaki or a naginata is dull in cutting" (長巻（薙刀）直しに鈍刀なし). The meaning of this saying is that nagamaki and naginata are equipment for actual combat, not works of art or offerings to the kami , and that the sharpness and durability of swords made ...
Firearms appeared in Japan around 1270, as primitive metal tubes invented in China and called teppō (鉄砲 lit. "iron cannon"). [3] [1] These weapons were very basic, as they had no trigger or sights, and could not be compared to the more advanced European weapons which were introduced in Japan more than 250 years later. [3]
Four ancient straight swords (chokutō) and one tsurugi handed down in possession of temples and shrines have been designated as National Treasure craft items. [nb 4] A notable collection of 55 swords and other weapons from the 8th century have been preserved in the Shōsōin collection.
[1] [2] Naginata were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru (foot soldiers) and sōhei (warrior monks). [3] The naginata is the iconic weapon of the onna-musha, a type of female warrior belonging to the Japanese nobility. A common misconception is that the Naginata is a type of sword, rather than a polearm.
Edo period Antique Japanese wakizashi sword blade showing the horimono, of a chrysanthemum. Horimono (彫り物, 彫物, literally carving, engraving), also known as chōkoku (彫刻, "sculpture"), are the engraved images in the blade of a nihonto (日本刀) Japanese sword, which may include katana or tantō blades. [1]
[9] [25] [26] Iron knives and axes, followed by bronze swords, spears and mirrors, were brought to Japan from Korea and China. [26] [27] Later all of these were produced locally. [28] The primary artistic artifacts, with the exception of Yayoi pottery, are bronze weapons, such as swords, halberds and dōtaku, ritual bells. [25]
In Japan, genuine edged hand-made Japanese swords, whether antique or modern, are classified as art objects (and not weapons) and must have accompanying certification to be legally owned. Prior to WWII Japan had 1.5million swords in the country – 200,000 of which had been manufactured in factories during the Meiji Restoration.