Kusarigama
鎖鎌 · kusarigama
Literally: chain sickle
A Japanese sickle, kama, joined to a chain with an iron weight at its end; the fighter entangled the opponent's sword or arms with the chain, then attacked with the blade.
Quick Facts
JapanAbout the weapon
Kusarigama (鎖鎌, literally "chain sickle") joins the Japanese sickle kama with a chain, kusari, carrying a heavy iron weight, fundō, at its end. Its origin is placed in the Muromachi period; it was common in the Edo period, when it served against swordsmen and as a training weapon. The researcher Nawa Yumio derives it from the tool jingama, used to cut horses' ropes during fires. Ellis Amdur calls the tale of a peasant who defeated a samurai with the sickle and chain a myth without evidence; Donn F. Draeger, by contrast, states that the kama sickle first served in farming and only later became a weapon. Three types are distinguished: a chain fixed at the end of the shaft (sickle in one hand, chain in the other), a chain running from the base of the blade for fast one-handed attacks, and a straight blade mounted at a right angle. The handle is often inlaid with lacquered mother-of-pearl marquetry, raden. The fighter swung the chain above the head, entangling the opponent's sword, spear or limbs, then closed in to the sickle's reach. Against a longer spear, naginata or bō staff the weapon was weaker, and we have not been able to find evidence of its use in mass battle. The art of kusarigamajutsu, combining work with the sickle, chain and weight, was taught by schools of kenjutsu, jūjutsu and naginatajutsu. According to the tale, Yamada Shinryūkan defeated many swordsmen until Araki Mataemon drove him into a bamboo thicket, where he could not swing the chain, and killed him. Women of samurai families also trained with the weapon. We have not been able to establish the link between the kusarigama and ninja in an independent historical source.
Parts of the weapon
- Blade — kama
- Chain or rope — kusari
- Weight — fundō
Related weapons
- Evolved from: Kama