Japanese war fan
Encyclopedia
A war fan is a fan
designed for use in war
fare. Several types of war fans were used by the samurai
class of feudal Japan.
used today by sumo referees. The commander would raise or lower his fan and point in different ways to issue commands to the soldiers, which would then be passed on by other forms of visible and audible signalling
.
War fans could also used as weapons, The art of fighting with war fans is tessenjutsu
.
and Uesugi Kenshin
at the fourth battle of Kawanakajima. Kenshin burst into Shingen's command tent on horseback, having broken through his entire army, and attacked; his sword was deflected by Shingen's war fan. It is not clear whether Shingen parried with a tessen, a dansen uchiwa, or some other form of fan. Nevertheless, it was quite rare for commanders to fight directly, and especially for a general to defend himself so effectively when taken so off-guard.
Minamoto no Yoshitsune
is said to have defeated the great warrior monk Saitō Musashibō Benkei
with a tessen.
Araki Murashige
is said to have used a tessen to save his life when the great warlord Oda Nobunaga
sought to assassinate him. Araki was invited before Nobunaga, and was stripped of his swords at the entrance to the mansion, as was customary. When he performed the customary bowing at the threshold, Nobunaga intended to have the room's sliding doors slammed shut onto Araki's neck, killing him. However, Araki supposedly placed his tessen in the grooves in the floor, blocking the doors from closing.
The Yagyū clan
, sword instructors to the Tokugawa shoguns
, included tessenjutsu in their martial arts school, the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū
.
and Korean martial arts
. They are called "铁扇" (tiě shàn, literally "steel fan") in Chinese, and "부채" (buchae) in Korean – see Korean fighting fan.
Fan (implement)
A hand-held fan is an implement used to induce an airflow for the purpose of cooling or refreshing oneself. Any broad, flat surface waved back-and-forth will create a small airflow and therefore can be considered a rudimentary fan...
designed for use in war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
fare. Several types of war fans were used by the samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
class of feudal Japan.
Description
War fans varied in size, materials, shape and use. One of the most significant uses was as a signalling device. Signalling fans came in two varieties:#1 a real fan that has wood or metal ribs with lacquered paper attached to the ribs and a metal outer cover, #2 a solid open fan made from metal and or wood, very similar to the gunbaiGunbai
thumb|right|A sumo gyoji wielding a gunbaiThe is a type of Japanese war fan.-Description:Gunbai were used by samurai officers in Japan to communicate commands to their troops, and were solid, not folding, and usually made of wood, wood covered with metal, or solid metal.It is also a key accessory...
used today by sumo referees. The commander would raise or lower his fan and point in different ways to issue commands to the soldiers, which would then be passed on by other forms of visible and audible signalling
Military Communication of Feudal Japan
A variety of methods were used to communicate across the battlefield in feudal Japan, much like in any other culture. These methods included visual signals like flags and banners and audible signals using drums and horns. Messengers on horseback used ciphers and other methods to prevent their...
.
War fans could also used as weapons, The art of fighting with war fans is tessenjutsu
Tessenjutsu
is the martial art of the Japanese war fan, tessen. It is based on the use of the iron folding fan, which usually had eight or ten ribs. The use of the war fan in combat is mentioned in early Japanese legends. For example, Yoshitsune, a hero of Japanese legend, is said to have defeated an opponent...
.
Types of Japanese war fans
- were folding fans used by the average warriors to cool themselves off. They were made of wood, bronze, brass or a similar metal for the inner spokes, and often used thin iron or other metals for the outer spokes or cover, making them lightweight but strong. Warriors would hang their fans from a variety of places, most typically from the belt or the breastplate, though the latter often impeded the use of a sword or a bow.
- were folding fans with outer spokes made of heavy plates of iron which were designed to look like normal, harmless folding fans or solid clubs shaped to look like a closed fan. Samurai could take these to places where swords or other overt weapons were not allowed, and some swordsmanship schools included training in the use of the tessen as a weapon. The tessen was also used for fending off arrows and darts, as a throwing weapon, and as an aid in swimming.
- were large solid open fans that could be solid iron, metal with wooden core, or solid wood, which were carried by high-ranking officers. They were used to ward off arrows, as a sunshade, and to signal to troops.
War fans in history and folklore
One particularly famous legend involving war fans concerns a direct confrontation between Takeda ShingenTakeda Shingen
, of Kai Province, was a preeminent daimyo in feudal Japan with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period.-Name:Shingen was called "Tarō" or "Katsuchiyo" during his childhood...
and Uesugi Kenshin
Uesugi Kenshin
was a daimyo who ruled Echigo province in the Sengoku period of Japan.He was one of the most powerful lords of the Sengoku period. While chiefly remembered for his prowess on the battlefield, Kenshin is also regarded as an extremely skillful administrator who fostered the growth of local industries...
at the fourth battle of Kawanakajima. Kenshin burst into Shingen's command tent on horseback, having broken through his entire army, and attacked; his sword was deflected by Shingen's war fan. It is not clear whether Shingen parried with a tessen, a dansen uchiwa, or some other form of fan. Nevertheless, it was quite rare for commanders to fight directly, and especially for a general to defend himself so effectively when taken so off-guard.
Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Minamoto no Yoshitsune
was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and the third and final son and child that Yoshitomo would father with Tokiwa Gozen. Yoshitsune's older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura...
is said to have defeated the great warrior monk Saitō Musashibō Benkei
Saito Musashibo Benkei
, popularly called Benkei, was a Japanese warrior monk who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune. He is commonly depicted as a man of great strength and loyalty, and a popular subject of Japanese folklore.-Biography:...
with a tessen.
Araki Murashige
Araki Murashige
was a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, and daimyō of Itami Castle during the late Sengoku period of the 16th century in Japanese history, in what is now Itami city in Hyōgo Prefecture....
is said to have used a tessen to save his life when the great warlord Oda Nobunaga
Oda Nobunaga
was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...
sought to assassinate him. Araki was invited before Nobunaga, and was stripped of his swords at the entrance to the mansion, as was customary. When he performed the customary bowing at the threshold, Nobunaga intended to have the room's sliding doors slammed shut onto Araki's neck, killing him. However, Araki supposedly placed his tessen in the grooves in the floor, blocking the doors from closing.
The Yagyū clan
Yagyu clan
The ' were a family of daimyō with lands just outside Nara, who became the heads of one of Japan's greatest schools of swordsmanship, Yagyū Shinkage-ryū...
, sword instructors to the Tokugawa shoguns
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
, included tessenjutsu in their martial arts school, the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū
Yagyu Shinkage-ryu
is one of the oldest Japanese schools of swordsmanship . Its primary founder was Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, who called the school Shinkage-ryū. In 1565, Nobutsuna bequeathed the school to his greatest student, Yagyū Munetoshi, who added his own name to the school. Today, the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū remains...
.
War fans outside Japan
Fans are also used for offensive and defensive purposes in the ChineseChinese martial arts
Chinese martial arts, also referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu , are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" , "sects" or...
and Korean martial arts
Korean martial arts
Korean martial arts are the martial arts that originated from Korea. Some well known Korean martial arts are hapkido, kuk sool won, and taekwondo. There has also been a revival of Korean sword arts as well as knife fighting and archery...
. They are called "铁扇" (tiě shàn, literally "steel fan") in Chinese, and "부채" (buchae) in Korean – see Korean fighting fan.
In popular culture
- Examples of Japanese war fans in popular culture.
- Video games, in the series Samurai WarriorsSamurai Warriorsis the first title in the series of video games created by Koei's Omega Force team based loosely around the Sengoku period of Japanese history and it is a spinoff of the Dynasty Warriors series...
, Takeda Shingen wields a dansen uchiwa in the first game in SW2Samurai Warriors 2is a sequel to the original Samurai Warriors, created by Koei and Omega Force. The game was released in 2006 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, and received a port to Microsoft Windows in 2008....
, Ishida MitsunariIshida MitsunariIshida Mitsunari was a samurai who led the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the Azuchi-Momoyama period of the 17th century. Also known by his court title, Jibunoshō...
also wields a tessen. War fans are used by the popular video game female ninja characters Mai ShiranuiMai Shiranuiis a player character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting games by SNK and in related media, also appearing in a large number of other games...
(wooden-paper fans in the Fatal FuryFatal Furyis a fighting game series developed by SNK for the Neo Geo system.Producers Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto, who were the producers of the series from Fatal Fury 3 and onward, were the planners of the original Street Fighter...
and King of FightersKing of Fighters, officially abbreviated KOF, is a series of fighting games by SNK Playmore . The series was originally developed for SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware, which served as the main platform for the series until 2004, when SNK retired the MVS in favor of the Atomiswave arcade board...
series) and KitanaKitana (Mortal Kombat)Kitana is a recurring player and a one-time boss character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. One of the lead characters of the Mortal Kombat saga, Kitana is the princess of the otherdimensional realm of Edenia and the daughter of Queen Sindel...
(a pair of sharp metal fans in the Mortal KombatMortal Kombat (series)Mortal Kombat, commonly abbreviated MK, is a science fantasy series of fighting games created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. The first four renditions and their updates were developed by Midway Games and initially released on arcade machines. The arcade titles were later picked up by Acclaim...
series and films). - MangaMangaManga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, CartoonCartoonA cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
and animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, in series (such as in InuYashaInuYasha, also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on November 13, 1996 and concluded on June 18, 2008...
by Kagura and in NarutoNarutois an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of...
by Temari and Madara Uchiha) and Code LyokoCode LyokoCode Lyoko is a French animated television series created by Thomas Romain and Tania Palumbo. The series centers on boarding school students Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd who travel to the virtual world of Lyoko to fight against multi-agent computer program XANA with Aelita, a being originally...
by Yumi Ishiyama . - Animated television seriesCartoon seriesA cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same characters and a basic theme...
, in series (such as in Avatar: The Last AirbenderAvatar: The Last AirbenderAvatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz...
by Kyoshi Warriors and in Code LyokoCode LyokoCode Lyoko is a French animated television series created by Thomas Romain and Tania Palumbo. The series centers on boarding school students Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd who travel to the virtual world of Lyoko to fight against multi-agent computer program XANA with Aelita, a being originally...
by Yumi Ishiyama).