Tonbokiri

Legendary Japanese spear
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (May 2021) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
  • View a machine-translated version of the Japanese article.
  • Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
  • Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 3,691 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization.
  • Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
  • You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:蜻蛉切]]; see its history for attribution.
  • You may also add the template {{Translated|ja|蜻蛉切}} to the talk page.
  • For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
Replica of the Tonbokiri, made in 1847, in the Tokyo National Museum

The Tonbokiri (蜻蛉切) is one of three legendary Japanese spears created by the famed swordsmith Sengo Masazane, said to be wielded by the daimyō Honda Tadakatsu, a leading general of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The spear derives its name from the myth that a dragonfly landed on its blade and was instantly cut in two. Thus tonbo (Japanese for "dragonfly") and kiri (Japanese for "cutting"), translating this spear's name as "Dragonfly Cutter".

The weapon, along with Nihongō and Otegine, is listed as one of "three great spears" in the Kyōhō Meibutsucho, a listing of famous Koto blades made before the Nanbokucho period and compiled by the Hon'ami family during the Kyōhō era (1716–1735).[1]

The Tonbokiri is owned by a private individual and is on loan to the Sano Art Museum for its collection.[2]

References

  1. ^ Nagayama, Kōkan. The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords. Kodansha International, 1997. p35
  2. ^ Three Great Spears of Japan. The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum “Nagoya Touken World”


  • v
  • t
  • e
Stub icon

This article relating to polearms is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e