Samurai Weapons

With the mythical and legendary nature of the samurai, it’s sometimes truly hard to believe these figures really existed all those years ago, and aren’t merely figments of fantasy. But, exist they did. They may have long since vanished into the past, but left behind is a legacy and legend which only magnifies with time. A warring culture where only the smartest, most cunning and skilled survived. Part of this legacy is the samurai weapons, which is what this site is all about.

Let’s take a look at the different types of samurai weapons…

Samurai Swords

Without a shadow of doubt, the most infamous of all samurai weapons is the samurai sword. A razor sharp tool of death which struck fear into the hearts of the enemy, and the life out of it’s victims.

Katana

What most people broadly refer to as a samurai sword is actually called a katana (meaning ‘long sword’). The katana, as the name suggests, is the longest sword a samurai would carry – and the most important.

Wakizashi

Samurai always carried a second, shorter sword named a wakizashi. Carrying both of these swords gave the samurai a greater advantage over a swordsman armed with only one sword, as a wakizashi could be used to greater effect in close quarters, often used to deliver the killer blow to the enemy.

Tanto

Another bladed samurai weapon was the tanto, which is more or less a dagger, and used for very close quarters, and often concealed and used in surprise attacks.

Samurai Armor

Not an offensive weapon, but a defensive weapon, the armor of a samurai was especially designed to be as light and as free-moving as possible, which put the samurai at a great advantage over opponents wearing rigid suits of armor as their ability to move quickly and freely wasn’t impinged.

One can only imagine how fearsome a samurai in full armor must have looked to the unfortunate enemy.

Kama

Samurai certainly were inventive, and every implement with lethal capabilities was exploited. Such an example of this is in the kama – which is nothing more than a farming tool similar to the western world’s sickle. Left and right handed Kama were made, and when used in battle they were usually used in tandem. (Kama training for martial arts purposes still exists today.)

Fans

Who knows if the term ‘fanning the flames of war’ originated here. Fans were used for a variety of purposes, and by a variety of people throughout feudal Japan. Japanese samurai in particular were known to have carried a type of fan called a tessen.

A tessen was actually a steel fan masquerading as a harmless paper fan, which the samurai would use for throwing, fending off projectiles, and even clubbing people with when closed. Sometimes, samurai would even create a dummy folded tessen which was in fact a solid steel club.

It may seem a little bizarre that a samurai who carried swords and knives would have use for a fan, but, they were actually carried into places which weapons weren’t permitted; so what we have is an early example of a concealed or disguised weapon.