The , literally meaning "ten-hand" (i.e., the weapon with the power of ten hands), is a specialized
weaponA weapon is a tool used to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack, self-defense, or defense in combat.Weapons can be as simple as a club, or as complex as an intercontinental ballistic missile, and include those that damage individual or group morale.-Prehistoric weapons:Very simple weapon...
which was used by low-rank
law enforcement-Organizations:*Law enforcement organization*Law enforcement agency*Police*Military police*Secret police*Specialist law enforcement agencySee also List of law enforcement agencies-Powers:*Powers and Law Exemptions of a Law Enforcement Agency...
officers (called
okapiki or
doshin) during
Edo periodThe , or , is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 and is the premodern era. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period ended with the Meiji Restoration, the...
in the history of
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Nowadays, the jutte is the subject of the
Japanese martial artJapanese martial arts refers to the enormous variety of martial arts native to Japan. At least three Japanese terms are often used interchangeably with the English phrase "Japanese martial arts": "budō", literally meaning "martial way", , which has no perfect translation but means something like...
of
juttejutsuis the Japanese martial art of using the Japanese weapon jutte . Juttejutsu was evolved mainly for the law enforcement officers of the Edo period to enable non-lethal disarmament and apprehension of criminals who were usually carrying a sword...
.
The modern jutte is about 45 cm (18 inches) long with no cutting edge and a one-pronged tine, about 5 cm long starting just above the handle and pointing toward the tip.
The , literally meaning "ten-hand" (i.e., the weapon with the power of ten hands), is a specialized
weaponA weapon is a tool used to apply force for the purpose of hunting, attack, self-defense, or defense in combat.Weapons can be as simple as a club, or as complex as an intercontinental ballistic missile, and include those that damage individual or group morale.-Prehistoric weapons:Very simple weapon...
which was used by low-rank
law enforcement-Organizations:*Law enforcement organization*Law enforcement agency*Police*Military police*Secret police*Specialist law enforcement agencySee also List of law enforcement agencies-Powers:*Powers and Law Exemptions of a Law Enforcement Agency...
officers (called
okapiki or
doshin) during
Edo periodThe , or , is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 and is the premodern era. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period ended with the Meiji Restoration, the...
in the history of
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Nowadays, the jutte is the subject of the
Japanese martial artJapanese martial arts refers to the enormous variety of martial arts native to Japan. At least three Japanese terms are often used interchangeably with the English phrase "Japanese martial arts": "budō", literally meaning "martial way", , which has no perfect translation but means something like...
of
juttejutsuis the Japanese martial art of using the Japanese weapon jutte . Juttejutsu was evolved mainly for the law enforcement officers of the Edo period to enable non-lethal disarmament and apprehension of criminals who were usually carrying a sword...
.
Design and technique
The modern jutte is about 45 cm (18 inches) long with no cutting edge and a one-pronged tine, about 5 cm long starting just above the handle and pointing toward the tip. A popular misconception is that the tine is used to catch a sword. It could possibly be used for this purpose, but the tine's proximity to the hand would make it rather dangerous. When faced with a swordsman, a more likely use for the tine would be to capture and arrest the blade having evaded it. The tine's more common use is to hook into clothing or parts of the body like the nose or mouth, or to push into joints or other weak points on the body.
The jutte can also be used in much the same manner as other short sticks or batons, to strike large muscle groups and aid in joint manipulation.
History
The original form of the jutte is traditionally believed to have been created by the legendary swordmaker
Masamune, also known as , is widely recognized as Japan's greatest swordsmith. As no exact dates are known for Masamune's life, he has reached an almost legendary status. It is generally agreed that he made most of his swords in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, 1288–1328. He created swords, known as...
(although some claim his father, Munshinai had done so, instead); it resembled its name of "ten hands", having that many prongs, and resembling a
rakeRake may refer to:* Rake , various angles in bicycle and motorcycle geometry* Rake , a long-handled tool with tines* Rake , a cellular automaton pattern that moves while regularly emitting spaceships...
. It was carried in one hand, and used on the battlefield either to trap an enemy's sword and then slay them, or trap it and bind the enemy with a lasso or grapple with them, capturing them.
The design is said to have been derived from the Okinawan
saiSai is the Ryukyu name for a traditional Okinawan weapon. The basic form of the weapon is that of a pointed, dagger-shaped truncheon, with two curved prongs projecting from the handle. The ball of the handle is called the knuckle. Contrary to popular belief, the shaft of a traditional sai is not...
, although some assert that the jutte existed first, and influenced the design of the sai.
Marohoshi jutte
A variant on this design is the
marohoshi, which is generally shorter and incorporates a
bladeA blade is the flat part of a tool, weapon, or machine that normally has a cutting edge and/or pointed end typically made of a flaking stone, such as flint, or metal, most recently steel...
.
In popular culture
Notable examples of jutte featured in fiction include:
- Jutte is carried by Zenigata Heiji
is Japanese fictional character, the hero of a series of Japanese novels, films and TV programmes set in the Edo period of Japanese history. He is a policeman who catches criminals by throwing coins, the zeni of the title, thus Zenigata Heiji. The hero was created by novelist Kodō Nomura in 1937...
, the famous fictional okapiki of the classic Japanese cinema.
- Manji
Manji is the protagonist of the Japanese manga series Blade of the Immortal. In the story, he's known infamously both as the "Hundred Man Killer," for the number of men he's killed by the beginning of the series, and "Mister Twelve Blades" for the number of weapons he carries...
, the main character of Blade of the Immortalis a Japanese manga series by Hiroaki Samura. The series won an Excellence Prize at the 1997 Japan Media Arts Festival and the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in 2000 for Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material...
has two short-swords shaped like jutte, as well as two smaller weapons which he notes to be able catch/break a sword in the same style as a jutte. A secondary character Doa also steals a jutte from a policeman and sharpens it to use it as offensive weapon.
- The title character from the Hanzo the Razor
Hanzo the Razor is a fictional character featured in the trilogy of Japanese jidaigeki films of the same name. The films star Shintaro Katsu as the title character. He also produced the trilogy through his own Katsu Productions...
series of films is a constable in the Edo period who carries two jittes (these having lengths of chain concealed in the handles) and routinely uses them as his prefered weapons.
- Koichi Zenigata
, usually called , is a fictional character in Monkey Punch's anime and manga series Lupin III.- Personality :Zenigata has made it his mission in life to arrest Lupin. He would love to arrest the other members of Lupin's gang, but Zenigata is really after the mastermind himself...
, the antagonist from the Lupin III, also known as Lupin the 3
rd, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of Monkey Punch. The story follows the adventures of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc's...
manga/anime franchise, uses a jutte when not utilizing his handcuff-throwing technique.
- In the anime series Cyber City Oedo 808
is a seminal Cyberpunk anime set in the year 2808 in the megalopolis of Oedo . It was directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri.- Plot :To combat computerised crime more effectively, the Cyber Police unit of the future Japanese city of Oedo has begun to employ hardened criminals with a history of hi-tech...
, officers of the Cyber Police Squad use the jutte as a weapon and as a method of identification.
- In the trading card game Magic the Gathering, Kitsune Blademasters fought with a blade-catching jitte in the offhand. Additionally, one of the most popular and powerful "equipment" artifacts in the game's history is "Umezawa's Jitte".
- In the Super Sentai
The is the name given to the long running Japanese superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Company Ltd., Toei Agency and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi...
series Samurai Sentai Shinkengeris the title of Toei Company's thirty-third entry in its long-running Super Sentai Series of Japanese tokusatsu television series. It premiered on February 15, 2009, the week following the finale of Engine Sentai Go-onger...
, the support robot DaiGoyou can separate into a jitte and a paper lantern.
In manga and anime, jitte are used by the characters Lady Kayura (
Ronin WarriorsRonin Warriors is the English version of the Japanese anime television series . Yoroiden Samurai Troopers was produced by Sunrise, and aired across Japan on Nagoya Television from April 30, 1988 to March 4, 1989 and has a total of 39 episodes.Ronin Warriors was produced by Graz Entertainment and...
), Sakami Manzou (
Samurai Champloois a Japanese animated television series consisting of twenty-six episodes. It was broadcast in Japan from May 20, 2004, through March 19, 2005, on the television network, Fuji TV. Samurai Champloo was created and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, whose previous work, Cowboy Bebop, earned him renown...
), Otaru Mamiya in (
Saber Marionette J, is an anime series from the Saber Marionette franchise about Otaru Mamiya and his three marionettes, which are humanoid female robots. It is created by Satoru Akahori while the original character designs are from Tsukasa Kotobuki. The anime series aired on TV Tokyo from October 1, 1996 to March...
) and Smoker (
One Pieceis a long-running shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, that has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997. The individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997 and the 55th volume released...
), among others. In video games, jitte are also used by the characters Sodom (
Street Fighter Alpha and
Final Fightis a fighting action game produced by Capcom originally released in as a coin-operated arcade game. The arcade version was planned by game designer Akira Nishitani and character designer Akira Yasuda , who both later worked on Capcoms landmark head-to-head fighting game Street Fighter II...
series) and Taki (
Soulcalibur series).
See also
- Juttejutsu
is the Japanese martial art of using the Japanese weapon jutte . Juttejutsu was evolved mainly for the law enforcement officers of the Edo period to enable non-lethal disarmament and apprehension of criminals who were usually carrying a sword...
- the martial art of using the jutte
- Sai
Sai is the Ryukyu name for a traditional Okinawan weapon. The basic form of the weapon is that of a pointed, dagger-shaped truncheon, with two curved prongs projecting from the handle. The ball of the handle is called the knuckle. Contrary to popular belief, the shaft of a traditional sai is not...
- a similar weapon, which resembles a jutte with a second prong and is used in Okinawan kobudōOkinawan kobudō is a Japanese term that can be translated as "old martial way of Okinawa"...