Yari Nakago as an indicator of age

[watsonmil]

Although I own a couple ( neither in polish ) the yari has not been something that I at least have been able to find a great deal of information either in book form or on the internet. I do have the book " Japanese Spears and the Polearms and their use in Old Japan " by the Knutsens, and although a good read I find it lacking in many areas, one of which is the relationship of nakago ( tang ) length to age ( if there is one ). Is there any way of assigning tang length to specific eras ( similar to shape of sword blades often assigns a mumei blade to a given era ). I've also noticed a large number of yari which are suriage, and in most cases I assume these may be quite old.

 

I would surmise that the longer nakago specimens being much less likely to allow the shaft to be cut through were made earlier when the yari was actually being used in battle, as opposed to the shorter nakago specimens being much later Edo Period yari when actual combat usage had ended. Given that many ( but unfortunately none that I own ) are signed I am just wondering if any of our member collectors have paid attention to this detail.

 

On the one su-yari ( sei-sankaku-yari ) ubu that I own the tang is very long with two mekugi-ana. On the one jumonji-yari the tang ubu is medium in length with only the one mekugi-ana. Although I do not own any I have seen ubu yari which have a very short nakago. Of course there are the fukuro-su-yari which are socketed just to add to the confusion.

 

If any of our members have information or thoughts on this subject, I would be most happy to hear them. Respectfully submitted ...

Ron Watson

[estcrh]

Although I own a couple ( neither in polish ) the yari has not been something that I at least have been able to find a great deal of information either in book form or on the internet. I do have the book " Japanese Spears and the Polearms and their use in Old Japan " by the Knutsens, and although a good read I find it lacking in many areas, one of which is the relationship of nakago ( tang ) length to age ( if there is one ). Is there any way of assigning tang length to specific eras ( similar to shape of sword blades often assigns a mumei blade to a given era ). I've also noticed a large number of yari which are suriage, and in most cases I assume these may be quite old.

 

I would surmise that the longer nakago specimens being much less likely to allow the shaft to be cut through were made earlier when the yari was actually being used in battle, as opposed to the shorter nakago specimens being much later Edo Period yari when actual combat usage had ended. Given that many ( but unfortunately none that I own ) are signed I am just wondering if any of our member collectors have paid attention to this detail.

 

On the one su-yari ( sei-sankaku-yari ) ubu that I own the tang is very long with two mekugi-ana. On the one jumonji-yari the tang ubu is medium in length with only the one mekugi-ana. Although I do not own any I have seen ubu yari which have a very short nakago. Of course there are the fukuro-su-yari which are socketed just to add to the confusion.

 

If any of our members have information or thoughts on this subject, I would be most happy to hear them. Respectfully submitted ...

Ron Watson

Ron, I have wondered why all yari do not have a long nakago if that helped to keep the wood shaft from being cut. I have never seen a shaft they had iron strips down the length either that would do the same thing. If you look at sodegarami and sasumata the shafts have long iron strips with spikes to keep someone from grabbing the shaft, this would also help keep the shaft from being cut. Yari shafts could have easily been made the same way if needed, so possibly the shafts being cut was not a problem. I have never read any information on this so thats all I can add.

[Lee Bray]

Perhaps a shorter nakago was introduced to save weight for the purpose of user fatigue?

I imagine holding one of the longer varieties on a 6 ft pole at arms length in battle could tire a man fairly quickly.

A lighter yari might not be as strong but is potentially faster and easier to wield, especially over an extended period of time.

Purely speculation on my part, though.

 

I'm also curious about the way the mekugi ana were finished with regard to the steel either side of the ana.

Looking at a couple of Koto pieces on Aoi the other day, both yari had punched ana, one having a noticeable swell in the surrounding steel, the other was uniformly flat.

The flat sided nakago was partially rusting through either side of the ana and was a weak point.

The nakago with the swell around the ana was still healthy and presumably strong.

A Shinto yari I owned had that same weak point, the mei on the portion of nakago below the ana. http://img718.imageshack.us/i/yarimei.jpg/

Had the nakago snapped at that point, the mei would be lost.

 

Perhaps a reason for shorter nakago is purely that they snapped and the resulting rough end was cleaned up?

The short blades are almost bullet proof so would remain useful even if the long nakago had snapped.

 

So, my above curiousness is in regard to the swell around the nakago ana and whether it was a trait for some smiths or schools?

Loses relevance when ana began to be drilled, though.

[estcrh]

Perhaps a shorter nakago was introduced to save weight for the purpose of user fatigue?

I imagine holding one of the longer varieties on a 6 ft pole at arms length in battle could tire a man fairly quickly.

A lighter yari might not be as strong but is potentially faster and easier to wield, especially over an extended period of time.

Purely speculation on my part, though.

 

I'm also curious about the way the mekugi ana were finished with regard to the steel either side of the ana.

Looking at a couple of Koto pieces on Aoi the other day, both yari had punched ana, one having a noticeable swell in the surrounding steel, the other was uniformly flat.

The flat sided nakago was partially rusting through either side of the ana and was a weak point.

The nakago with the swell around the ana was still healthy and presumably strong.

A Shinto yari I owned had that same weak point, the mei on the portion of nakago below the ana. http://img718.imageshack.us/i/yarimei.jpg/

Had the nakago snapped at that point, the mei would be lost.

 

Perhaps a reason for shorter nakago is purely that they snapped and the resulting rough end was cleaned up?

The short blades are almost bullet proof so would remain useful even if the long nakago had snapped.

 

So, my above curiousness is in regard to the swell around the nakago ana and whether it was a trait for some smiths or schools?

Loses relevance when ana began to be drilled, though.

So you think that its possible that many surviving yari started out with much longer nakago but by the time we got to see them they have been shortened due to snapping?

[Lee Bray]

I'd say it's certainly possible but obviously not the reason for all short nakago yari.

The ana certainly seems to be a weak point in the nakago and if that is being subjected to sword blows and possible metal fatigue from a flexible wooden shaft...

[John A Stuart]

Hi Lee, I agree the ana is a weak point, but, not from use. The stress point is where the nakago enters the nakae. Of those that break, it would be I think from metal loss over time. The nakae seems to have become shorter during the mid to late Edo period and the nakago as to match. John

[sanjuro]

If I may add another dimension to this.

The long nakago is also there to prevent flexing of the blade/nakago sideways within the shaft when used in a slashing motion. ie. as a lever within the shaft to brace against a sideways force. The shorter bladed yari did not need this as they were primarily used for stabbing. The Omi yari and cruciform yari, were also used to slash with.

 

long yari that snapped at the mekugi were in the old days considered useless. The punched mekugi were considered superior.

Strangely, I was reading about this recently having located the material quite by accident whilst researching naginata, to which this same principle applies. I have (I think),the reference somewhere at home. When I get back in a week or so I'll have a look for it.

[watsonmil]

Although there has not been a great interest in this particular thread, ... I thought I might just add something that is rather obvious, ... perhaps too obvious. You know virtually all the Yari poles I have examined have a nakago depth corresponding to what the shortened yari nakago would utilize. I'm wondering , since these are in many cases o-suriage nakago .... that they did NOT break accidentally, ... but were deliberately shortened to cut down on the labour required to refit them to a new pole. Given that their was little if any real fighting during the period after the Tokugawa unification, ... and since most poles had to be replaced at some point during this peaceful period just from age, .... I'm beginning to wonder if quite possibly this was simply a way of the artisan/craftsman to cut corners in labour. Having personally mounted a couple of Yari, both with an o-suriage nakago, and one with a very long ubu nakago, ... I can speak with some authority to the difficulty the longer tang creates in getting a proper fit. Fitting the very long nakago is very tedious and time consuming. During the peaceful times of the Edo Period, I can easily see some very good reason for shortening that tang. The bloody yari is never going to be used for it's intended purpose again, ... so why go to the extra labour and expense since no one can see the length of the nakago anyway. Anyone given this some thought ?? ..... Ron Watson

[Bazza]

Of those few yari I have seen with suriage nakago all have been cut to mount in sword koshirae, mostly tanto. This was to make a cheap weapon for stabbing, as has been noted. Recently I looked through a collection of 20 swords in a museum. The first sword I picked up for examination was an itomaki tachi koshirae. I could see it was unusual because the saya was straight. A puzzle. However, the moment I picked it up I knew it was "something else" as it was as heavy as lead! On drawing the blade I was surprised to see a HUGE ryoshinogi yari with a suriage nakago. The tachi koshirae was nothing of note, so I'm surmising that the yari was remounted to sell as a Meiji tourist piece. The mekugiana is intact and the suriage is just below the last character of the mei - ?ZEN KUNI JU FUJIWARA SUKEFUSA. BTW, the first character of the mei is so faint I couldn't read it at the time. Does anybody (or Nobody?? hahahahaha - the joke has been made before. Sorry) know the smith at all?? It is interesting to see that the nakago jiri has been nicely rounded instead of being cut straight across as swords usually are.

Regards,

BaZZa.

 

EDIT: Photography hint. When I'm "out and about" I've found it very useful to place tangs left to right and photograph with a flash. I take numerous shots at slightly different angles to make sure I don't get flare from the flash that washes out the image. Note I also rotate and crop the image. Postings on NMB could do with a lot more cropping...

[Jean]

The logic would be that the first kanji be "Echi", byt I don't see very well.