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Yari Question


76_liberty

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I’m new to collecting and have a lot to learn. I recently picked up a few swords and a yari. The person I purchased the yari from didn’t know anything about it. I’d definitely welcome any information anyone could give me on it. It doesn’t have a signature. Any idea when it was made, by who, or what area?

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Dear Chad.

 

Nice little yari, shape would be called hira sankaku, three sided  The kerakubi, the bit at the base just above the tang, is not long so I agree with Ken that it is probably Edo period.  No signature on the tang?

 

To have a look at a few more try here, https://www.aoijapan.com/japaneseswords/kenyarihinawaju/

 

All the best.

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I feel you, Ken - being all day long at home, I too tend to drink too much ...  :rotfl:

It's a very big club!!  My Darling Son has forbidden his Mother and I to leave our property in the present crisis, preferring instead to leave stuff for us at the front gate.  He rang not 10 minutes ago to say there was a case of wine and beer at the front gate.  What a thoughtful lad...

 

BaZZa

(hic)

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Thank you all very much for the help with my yari. It doesn’t have a signature on the tang. I was nervous about buying it because I’m a new collector, didn’t know anything about it, and was concerned about paying too much. I gave $350 for it. Was that a good price?

 

Sincerely,

Chad

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Chad,

Thanks for initiating an interesting conversation. My sense if that your spear has rather nice lines, but -frankly - the nakago (tang) seems really very small to me. The ana (hole) is well place, tho. So I wonder with the unit has been rather seriously shortened at some point. Real, but re-worked is my suspicion. What do you think?

Peter

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From a phsics standpoint, it would seem that the larger the blade of a yari, the larger (longer) the nakago would be, as the forces exerted in use could result in side loading and other forces that could result in failure if not sufficiently strong. A yari I recently acquired had a bent nakago which seems to have occurred in use, as the force required to bend it was significant. Maybe some styles had shorter  tangs by design?

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A perfect balance and interaction between the long iron nakago and the akagashi oak shaft must have strengthened the combination against cutting and smashing. 

 

Many nakago have rusted in place and prove impossible to remove without destroying either the pole or part of the nakago. Such nakago may have been cut down and rounded off.

 

白鞘 Shirasaya is nice to have. I bought a spear in shirasaya recently, but sadly it does not quite fit the looooong pole I had in mind!  :dunno:

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Did someone try cleaning it or buffing it at one point?

 

It looks like a nice little yari under there. The bottom of Nakago is bent a bit which could be a sign of breaking? Battle damage? Regular damage from being stuck and forcefully removed?

 

Over all it looks like a nice out of polish entry level yari with some minor issues. Can't vouch for authenticity but 350$ isn't a bad price at all.

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I agree with Dwain, that it looks like it has been "polished" with fine grit sand paper.  Even if true, it appears to be healthy and has a suguha Hamon with some activity.  As to the deal you made, the price of a Shirasaya would be about what you paid for it, so you did fine.  The question is whether you want to invest in a new polish and, if so, whether you can find a polisher to take on the job and whether it is worth the investment.

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A friend once gave me half of a yari blade. I can only assume that the Japanese police cut it in half, refusing to allow it to continue the normal process from discovery to registration, where it would have been considered worthy of preservation, i.e. artistically or historically important. 

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I took a few more pictures so you could see the shirasaya and the hamon a little better. If it had a better polish it’d be easier to see. The lighting isn’t the greatest also. Hopefully I can get it polished sometime. Does anyone have any recommended polishers? Also, I only have a few blades so far and none of them are papered. Do you think this one would be worthwhile?

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Chad, if you have the money to do it, then why not? A polished yari blade is breathtakingly beautiful to behold.

 

As the old Japanese saying goes: 目に入れても痛くない. Naturally this is absolutely the wrong place to use it, but you can get a laugh from sword afficionados if you casually slip it in as praise for a blade!  :laughing:

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