The Obscure History of Japanese Battle Axes

[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so i have made a couple videos now that have delved into the history and usage of certain medieval japanese weapons specifically so far i have covered japanese swords and japanese firearms the latter with the help of youtube channel gun samurai and of course i do plan to continue this trend looking at more weapons of feudal japan stuff like spears and bows but there is one weapon i don't think i can put off talking about any longer the more i see of them and hear of them referenced just continues to build up my interest in them being that they are such an oddity among samurai weaponry i am obviously referring to battle axes one of the most rare and obscure weapons in medieval japan i bet most people watching this video probably didn't even know that japanese warriors even used axes like this that is unless you play games such as the samurai warriors series neo or for honor but with that said information on axes in japan is pretty sparse at least four sources in english so the information i have found regarding them may in fact be spotty at best yet i will say i was able to find a pretty solid write-up on the subject by gunsan history which you can find a link to in the description now axes in japan go by generally a few different names ono masakari or even fuetzu each of which refer to an axe with ono perhaps being more like a polax and masakari being more of a broad ax there are references that define each of these slightly different so it is hard to pick out the truth in the matter but in the end each of these types can be attributed to some form of battle axe it appears that these terms may also reflect some of the same types of axes used to cut wood but there are other more specific words that refer to simply a hatchet other than ono which then implies a distinction and it is here we get into the interesting variety of axes that the japanese did end up using from time to time in battle but first as for a timeline battle axes were sort of used sporadically throughout the history of feudal japan with it appears a more heavier usage in earlier periods yet there are indications of them also being used even up into the edo period now one of the most commonly seen designs is that of the nubu ono a long shafted two-handed weapon with a thin yet sharp head however this axe may not have been used for battle at all and is believed to perhaps be more of a ritual axe which interestingly enough it was this design that was seen on the history channel show forged in fire where two competing blacksmiths were instructed to emulate the design of the axe another similar common design is that of a smaller one-handed ono almost appearing like more of a hatchet this would have been good for up close engagements yet an even more practical design for samurai warfare was in fact actually an ono tsuyari basically a yari spear with an axe head situated beneath the spear blade this would have gone to turn the yari spear into more of a halberd just as other designs tried to do but there is one more design i want to throw at you and that is one you often come to see in a lot of artwork this one is in reference to the weapon used by the japanese folklore hero kintaro kintaro is said to wield a masakari which is often depicted as being a heavier two-handed axe shorter than that of the nubu ono but with likely more weight at its head we can see this design in some depictions of samurai this done to tie the heroic image of kintaro to more stalwart and valorous samurai figures we also see depictions of kintaro's accent from time to time used as ornamentation on samurai helmets but although the samurai and artist renditions of samurai so often liked the comparison to kintaro's acts the samurai very rarely ever used axes let alone one that would reflect the design of kintaros the style of samurai warfare across the ages just never really needed them for most melee encounters samurai either relied upon spears and pole arms like the yari and naginata and would often only resort to something shorter like a sword or dagger if the situation depended upon it on top of that there are styles for japanese martial arts associated with wielding most of these weapons while it appears there is really no style that primarily utilizes axes rather wielding axes requires relying on other martial arts such as naginata jutsu and jojutsu it sort of follows the same idea of why the samurai didn't really use handheld shields akin to other styles around the world and the answer is roughly the same it just didn't really fit into how the japanese conducted warfare and rather axes often were used as tools to destroy enemy defenses such as barricades gates standing shields and really anything else that needed to be torn down or broken apart yet with all of that said there were scenarios where samurai must have wielded axes specifically as weapons on the battlefield in fact clans were even known to record them as part of their inventory during campaigns such as the shimazu are said to have done during their invasion of the ryuku islands but really what was more common than the usage of axes by samurai or even ashigaru for that matter were their usage by sohei and yamabushi it was they who heavily used axes as tools and ritualistic objects thus when they came into conflict and had to take up arms axes were some of the weapons they often utilized in times of war and it is for this reason that axes were probably seen often enough on samurai battlefields not really used by the samurai but rather warrior monks this i feel is an important distinction to make although the axe was a weapon seen and used in feudal japan we can't necessarily call it a samurai weapon because of just how rarely it was used by them instead we should generally consider them to be a weapon more used by sohai and yamabushi so when you see a samurai wielding an axe in not only art but also in games and other forms of media just know it's not really an unrealistic depiction axes were used in feudal japan and in rare instances by samurai it's just the when where and why part that gets a little bit tricky but either way i hope this short video is able to help you understand a little bit more about the history and usage of battle axes in japan it is surely an odd subject and there is bound to be a lot more information on the matter than what i was able to dig up here so if you know any more about them please throw some cool information down in the comments section i would love to see what you guys know but with that said thank you for watching and don't forget to like subscribe and ring that notification bell if you enjoyed this video and found it to be most informative

Channel: The Shogunate

Views: 36,143

Keywords: Samurai, Axes, Axe, History, Education, Japan, Civilization, Feudal Japan, Medieval Japan, Daimyo, Shogun, Shogunate, Clan, Bushido, Honor, Katana

Id: xy0rsAoEo5A

Length: 7min 23sec (443 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 29 2021