Naginata - facts and myths...

[Mikaveli]

So, as I mentioned on another thread, I recently bought the book 槍薙刀入門 (Introduction to the Yari and Naginata) - in an attempt to find a better / more authoritative reference than most of the English speaking (especially web) sources.

 

So far:

1. The book very clearly makes no distinction between Naginata and Nagamaki etc. The latter, as often explained, is just a koshirae choice. It goes on to talk about _naka_maki (where only the central part of the tsuka is wrapped) and a few other types - but the takeaway is basically any long sword, on a long pole is a Naginata.

 

2. Heian to Kamakura, Naginata were considered to be powerful battlefield weapons, with nagasa up to 5 shaku, with examples of a 3 shaku blade being referred to as a ko-naginata (small naginata).

 

3. From the Nambokucho period, the wide body / bulging head / strong curvature style appeared, and generally became more ostentatious. By the Muromachi period, the large naginata of the previous period disappeared.

 

4. From the Momoyama period, sizes became more "usual" (it doesn't state exact what size this is, so I'm inferring around 2 shaku?). It also says shorter works, around 1 shaku and 2-3 bu were produced as "wives Naginata".

 

5. During the Edo period, Naginata became more popular among women and children of samurai families rather than samurai. It also says that Naginata were always carried as part of a wedding ceremony (in some sources, as part of a dowry).

 

6. Towards the end of the Edo period is considered to be a renaissance period, where Naginata from around the Nambokucho period were reproduced.

 

All the above is subject to only coming from a single source, and may be victim to my translation abilities. If I get time later, I'll post some of the original Japanese (subject to fair-use of copyright limitations).

[ROKUJURO]

2 hours ago, Mikaveli said:

...... - but the takeaway is basically any long sword on a long pole is a Naginata.....

That sounds surprizing to me. I would have assumed that long blades make a NAGAMAKI.

[Mikaveli]

51 minutes ago, ROKUJURO said:

That sounds surprizing to me. I would have assumed that long blades make a NAGAMAKI.

I'd imagine the confusion stemmed from both sharing "Naga" (long) as a prefix.

 

I view 長巻 (nagamaki) the same as 柄巻 (tsukamaki) - it's just saying how the grip is wrapped. We wouldn't use tsukamaki to classify between tanto, wakizashi and katana, for example.

 

A good example, from the book, was 中巻 (nakamaki) "Naka" meaning middle, so literally "middle wrap", where just a mid-section of the pole is wrapped.

 

Naginata, on the other hand can be written as 長刀 (lit. long sword), 薙刀 (lit. mow down sword) or 薙鉈 (lit. mow down hatchet). I've read a rough timeline for each of the terms, so I'll try to find it. Each time though, it's a clear description of the business end, as you can see.

[Mikaveli]

From the book:

Quote

 「長巻」と呼ばれる言葉は「長刀の長巻」という言葉からも明瞭なように柄を経巻きにしたものです。

 

Which I'd translate as something like:

Quote

The word "Nagamaki" clearly comes from the term "long wrapping on a long sword (Naginata)", where the wrapping of the tsuka is along its length.

 

[Mikaveli]

Naginata-naoshi...

 

So far I've hit a bit of a dead-end. The only mention of how it's achieved in the book has just been "shortening the tang / nakago".

 

No mention of shaping the blade or mune, but a passing mention of selecting blades suitable for naoshi (largely avoiding the wide, deep curvature style).

 

Good book, but looks like I'll need to find another source for more details about the naoshi process?