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Kusarigama
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The is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of kama (the Japanese equivalent of a sickle) on a metal chain (manriki) with a heavy iron weight at the end. Though the kusarigama is derived from a farmer's scythe, and though the sickle was often carried as a weapon by farmers during the feudal era of Japan, these farmers did not carry kusarigama.
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Encyclopedia
The is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of kama (the Japanese equivalent of a sickle) on a metal chain (manriki) with a heavy iron weight at the end. Though the kusarigama is derived from a farmer's scythe, and though the sickle was often carried as a weapon by farmers during the feudal era of Japan, these farmers did not carry kusarigama. Its purpose as a weapon was very obvious, so unlike a sickle, it could not be carried openly. The art of handling the kusarigama is called Kusarigamajutsu.
Method of use
Attacking with the weapon usually entailed swinging the weighted chain in a large circle over one's head, and then whipping it forward to entangle an opponent's spear, sword, or other weapon, or immobilizing his arms or legs. This allows the kusarigama user to easily rush forward and strike with the sickle.
A kusarigama wielder might also strike with the spinning weighted end of the chain directly, causing serious or deadly injury to his opponent while still outside the range of the opponent's sword or spear.
Kusarigama have also been employed as anti-siege weapons, with the chain allowing the weapon to be retrieved after it was thrown downwards at an attacking force.
Many fictional accounts of kusarigama sometimes show fighters swinging the sickle with the chain, rather than the weighted end. Though entertaining, this is usually not a proper use of the weapon, as the sickle is likely to bounce off a target without causing much injury. One of the few exceptions to this is the Houten Ryu discipline of the kusarigama.
Historical accounts of kusarigama
According to some accounts, the kusarigama is a weapon that is well-suited against swords and spears. Records show that the kusarigama was extremely popular in feudal Japan, with many schools teaching it, from about the 12th to 17th Century. Usage of the kusarigama is taught in Kohga Ha Kurokawa-Ryu.
A notable example of the use and misuse of the weapon is the story of the great 17th Century kusarigama teacher Yamada Shinryukan. Shinryukan was known to have killed many swordsmen with his weapon, until he was lured into a bamboo grove by Araki Mataemon. There, because of the terrain he was unable to swing the chain and trap Mataemon's sword, and was thus killed.
Perhaps one of the most famous historical users of the kusarigama is Shishido Baiken. A swordsman of great skill, he was proficient with the kusarigama, but was killed by the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi when he used a throwing knife to cause a non-fatal injury from outside the radius of the chain, and then moved in for the killing blow with his sword.
In Pop Culture
- In InuYasha, Sango's brother, Kohaku, uses the kusarigama as his weapon.
- Axl Low from the Guilty Gear series uses a kusarigama, though his has two sickles on the chain.
- Hattori Hanzo from the Samurai Warriors series is portrayed as a ninja who uses a kusarigama, albeit using the aforementioned "sickle as the primary weapon" form. He also appears with this weapon in Warriors Orochi.
- Mayuri Kurotsuchi from Bleach uses a kusarigama he pulls from his ear.
- Jinnai Doukou from Bleach uses a kusarigama bakkoto which he devours to unleash its power.
- Shuhei Hisagi's zanpakutou from Bleach is a kusarigama that uses an extra sickle instead of a weighted chain. The two blades of each end of the kusari-gama also resemble a fan.
- Kusari from Sluggy Freelance is a female ninja/assassin named after the weapon, and wields either a kama or a kusarigama as her weapon of choice.
- Vagabond depicts a 'Tsujikaze Kohei' (in-universe, the successor to the real Shishido Baiken and responsible for the weapon's notoriety) wielding the kusarigama with the weighted end as the primary attack, and the mechanical aspects of the technique (in particular the reach and range) are crucial to his duel with Musashi; his defeat comes not from the use of a throwing knife, but from Musashi surprising him by intentionally drawing both swords; Musashi simply allowed the short sword to be the one entangled and then struck Baiken with the long sword. (In the historical encounter between Baiken and Musashi, Baiken died.)
- In the manga Soul Eater, a kusarigama that uses an extra sickle instead of a weighted chain is the primary weapon form of Black Star's weapon Tsubaki — though she often takes the forms of other ninja weapons and tools.
- Leinheart from Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom can wield a kusarigama as one of his main weapons.
- Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden 2 can wield a kusarigama as one of his weapons.
- Anubis from Ronin Warriors uses a kusarigama with a bladed weight as his weapon of choice.
- In Curse of the Golden Flower, the emperors assassins wielded a Chinese version of these
- Kusari-Gama is an Equipment card in the trading card game Magic: the Gathering.
- The kusarigama is the weapon of choice for the female Backlash character in the Wildstorm Comics universe and upcoming WildC.A.T.s World's End
- In Bobobo, the kusarigama is often used as comic relief
- In Samurai Showdown, the character Earthquake wields an enormous kusarigama.
- In the anime Samurai Champloo, the character Umanosuke uses a special sickle which turns into an incredibly long kusarigama when fighting the character Mugen.
See also
External links
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