Part 1 - Rich history of Japanese Samurai and their Weapons

The Weapons created in Isolation

As promised today I’ll be talking about Japanese weapons that were created during Japan’s isolationist times.

The original samurai weapon, the Japanese bow has a long history. Being isolated from other cultures allowed Japan to develop its own unique archery tools and techniques. Japan developed very long bows, some over 8 feet long, to maximize their power.

Japanese Innovative Bow

From the beginning of their training women learned to use weapons such as kaiken - single or double-edged dagger knife that was used indoors for protection. Women would hide the kaiken under their kimono. Later in training the naginata was introduced as was the art of tantojutsu battle. The training of women samurais ensured the protection in communities that lacked male fighters.

The Samurai’s usual weapon was the katana, a curved blade engineered for cutting down foes with great efficiency. Japanese battlefield conjures up more variety of other weapons and fighter such as spear carriers and archers.

Japanese Original Weapons

Although used by both sexes, naginata became the standard weapon of upper-class female warriors. Also known as "the woman's spear," women of the ruling classes often practiced and mastered the use of the weapon. A naginata's curved blade resembles the spear, but allowed for sword-like strikes instead of simple stabbing motions.

Warriors with Naginata

Due to various technological limitations, Japan developed an innovative bow with a distinct shooting style that predated the katana, matchlock or rocket-launcher.

The Tanegashima, a type of matchlock (similar of a riffle) configured firearm was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese in 1543. The samurai class and their foot soldiers, called ashigaru used these matchlocks riffles. A few years after the introduction of the tanegashima the way war was fought in Japan changed forever.

The days of the samurai have long since passed, but the traditional samurai code of honor, discipline and morality known as bushido–or “the way of the warrior”– is still alive and part of the basic code of conduct for much of Japanese society. Add a miniature figure of Samurai with all of the different weapons that were used in the Japanese history, from Lavky.com http://ow.ly/yim9301gTZT to your collection and it will serve you well!