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Keith, thanks, the bokken I showed looks quite old but I have no way of knowing for sure except if someone would be able to tell from the size and shape. I thought the size was a little unusual but the chart that Chris posted shows a couple of types around the same length.

Can anyone say if this statement is true?

Chris thats a nice chart, thanks,

Hopefully this one will be a little less controversial. I have never seen one like this but I was told that certain ryu use a straight bokken, maybe some of the forum members with martial arts experience will have some info. This bokken looks to be old and made from oak. It is also quite long, 48 inches or 1.2 meters. Any ideas?

Looks real nice!!!...but your going to get frowns for having your sword point down.

It has the same basic look as the other one including the double mekugi-ana.

I agree with this, it would be nice to see an actual verifiable one. My guess is that it would be small around 3 ft (1 meter) and like piers said rather fancy. I am not suggesting that the small one I pictured is an actual kago yari (since I have not seen a real one for sure), rather that it is being portrayed as one more then an uchine. It is small and was made to look fancy, or someones opinion of fancy. It does have a unique blade though, anyone notice? Was the blade shaped like this after it was made or was it made like this. I have never seen this shape before.

What I was saying about the small yari is that it is of a SIZE that would actually fit inside of a Palanquin. It is in Japan and is labeled as having something to do with Palaquins. I do not think that a 4 foot long yari would really work inside those rather confined quarters. The object with the cut out areas is the saya. By the way, that may not be snake skin. I have had reptile skin items before and it looks like a type of Crocodilian skin not snake skin.

I dont know keith, it has a unusual look for sure but maybe made for a purpose? And it appears to have some age. As for the one that Carlo thought was more like an uchine..on close inspection maybe not? This picture looks like the end was made for thrusting. Compare this to the uchine underneath it. Approximately 79.3cm long 拵全 lance body

Piers, they are the same. Thats what I mean about pictures, you need the right shots. I was wondering if there was a chance that the second yari pictured was maybe an Ainu item or something for hunting?

Piers, are you sure it does not say "Free kago yari with every Norimono purchased" Keith, you saw the faceted pole to, very interesting. I wish there were more pictures, I posted every picture that I saved on my photobucket, I did email the person who owns or owned it a few weeks ago to see if there was any more info or pictures of it, they had just returned to Japan right after the earthquake and were quite upset, they said they would let me know when things settled down, I will post any pictures that I do get in the future. This shows why it is so hard sometimes to verify the authenticity of objects, with out really good photographs of the right parts it is almost impossible sometimes short of actually having it in hand to be certain that you are not being fooled.

Speaking of Palaquin, does anyone need a cool dog house or a kids play house or? There is one that is for sale in Japan, shipping could be a bit of a problem though but the price is right, only 1,000,000 yen. http://www.jauce.com/view2.php?seturl=h ... j133058513

These are or were in Japan, just examples of what is being called "kago" yari. I have no idea about the second one either, looks like some hill people got a hold of it. The first one is hard to figure out, enough real parts to leave some doubt. The cord going through the ishi-tsuki is what I have seen being referred to as a yari meant for use on horse back, no idea if that has any truth, maybe someone else does.

Two more yari, these are being labeled as "kago", any thoughts? http://s831.photobucket.com/albums/zz23 ... ?start=all Superb antique kago yari with fukuro tip, signed Nobukuni. It has a very nice wooden pole with a nice patina and great iron ishizushi. It also has a saya protector for the blade and is in terriffic condition. size: cutting edge: 10cm total blade: 20cm mounted: 127cm Size:135cm Theme:Kago Yari Material:Iron wood snake skin

That is around 4 ft or about 1.3 meters, still fairly long for a Palanquin spear I would think, just judging from the few Palaquin interiors I have seen. Here is another yari of the same size. An older blade refitted at some point in time. I have read that this size yari was used as a household weapon, and that the ones for use on a horse would have a loop attached to the pole at some point to secure the yari from dropping, any info on this?

Ian, so I am not the only one I see. About 6 months ago I to saw an extraordinary golden yari of the same type pictured, it was in Japan and it to had the double hadome. While everyone wants items in pristine condition there is to much of a good thing. It finally sold for a good price but I remember wondering at the time why it did not sell for considerably more. I prefer the lower grade items for the most part but this did catch the eye, evidently other people had reservations as well as it sold for no more then a good old plain in good shape complete yari.

For your education and everyone else Carlo, no one can post any image on any wikipedia project with out stating OWNERSHIP of the image or stating that the image is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN etc, as in over a certain age etc. In addition all images must state the source of the image. Any image found on wikipedia or a related project such as the image repository wikipedia commons that is found to be wrongly posted can be challenged and the image will be removed. Certain images are still not allowed to be posted on a wikipedia project even if you take it yourself, copyright is very complex. Here is a link to an image upload form, it is very specific as to what and what is not allowed. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Upload Images of antique Japanese and samurai items that you OWN can be freely posted on any wikipedia project. Art work, sculpture, photos , and commercial items etc all have different copyright rules.

Having recently seen a palanquin at the Return of the Samurai exhibit in Canada I think that the type of yari used while inside one would have to be quite small, more like the one pictured here. I started an image category on wiki commons called "Palanquins of Japan", you can see how small the interior space was. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Categ ... s_of_Japan

Keiths right, it seems that every almost every Japanese object had a box or cover of some type, many box's had their own covers such as armor and sword boxes. They are in many cases very rare items now. Its very rare to see an armor that has its individual bukuro for each piece. Armor boxes could have not only leather covers but also a lattice like crate for carrying the box and sword boxes could have leather covers as well as a type of netting used when carrying the box. Sword tsuka had leather or cloth covers, saya had leather covers, tsuba had box's with cloth bukuro, yari saya also had cloth or leather covers...all long gone by the time we get the item.

Here is a jingasa of the same style as yours that is for sale on ebay right now, just for reference. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 346802252+

A method to get anyone who searches for any of those words to see their listing, figuring that someone searching for yanone etc might also be interested in yari.

And Ian thought a medieval herald's cap was funny! If and when you get one made post a picture, I need a few of those myself. I have a couple of naginata and this cover fit on all of them so it seems to be fairly generic.

Ian, I can relate to that, I had seen a few before I figured out what they were for exactly, they have an odd shape. Keith I will take measurements if you need them. It will probably be a few weeks as it is in storage. Here are the few picture I have. Size:67cm (26.4") I saw it listed for at least a year and a few weeks ago I realized that I should probably buy it as they are not seen very often, it arrived a day or two before the earthquake . http://s831.photobucket.com/albums/zz23 ... ?start=all

In honor of Piers (who has been missing in action) I am posting a picture of a naginata bukuro that I found. The second post way back in the beginning of this thread was Piers yari bukuro.

Well "Formosa" is more information then I had before, thanks!