Staying on the Japanese Theme: Japanese Trade Blades in SE Asia

laEspadaAncha · 20th August 2012, 11:31 PM

I had posted this blade in another forum dedicated to the discussion of nihonto:

It is a tanto-mounted naginata. For those not already familiar with the term, naginata were the Japanese polearms mounted with single-edged Japanese tanto- and wakizashi-length blades, used by both Samurai and Japanese foot soldiers.

However, the mounting of this example is atypical of Japanese mountings, leading a couple members to suggest an attribution to the Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Hokaido, the Kuril Islands, and southern Sakhalin (Russia). Another poster suggested a possible attribution to one of the cultures or civilizations with whom the Japanese conducted trade.

This latter comment sent me on a quest for information regarding Japanese trade during the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868). Wiki has a nice entry on the Japanese Red Seal trade, from which I read briefly about the export of Japanese blades and the existence of a mercenary community of Samurai and traders based in what is now present-day Nakkom Si Thammarat in southern Thailand.

This colony was led by Yamada Nagamasa and he had 300 Samurai at his disposal (there was also an expat population of Japanese in Ayutthaya that was estimated to number between 1,500 and 7,000). They even fought alongside the armies of Ayuthatya in military campaigns of Songtham, who ruled Ayutthaya from 1611-1628. Apparently, the Japanese also engaged in acts of piracy against the Dutch in the waters between their settlement and Jakarta in and around 1620.

Here is a map of the Japanese trade routes throughout SE Asia:

As one of their exports was swords, and given the sheer quantity of swords and edged weapons produced in the preceding 100 years during the Sengoku Jidai - the Age of the Country at War - what happened to all the trade blades that surely found there way from every port from Manila to Jakarta?

One poster on the other forum mentioned having encountered a dha-mounted naginata years ago in Germany. Does anyone here have a picture of such an example they can share? I cannot say I recall ever having seen firsthand a Japanese trade blade in native mountings.

Which brings me back full circle to this example… In addition to the habaki (the sleeve over the bottom of the blade), the tanto also had two menuki (small hilt ornaments) attached, both traditional Japanese mountings.

However, the ferrule, grip, grip cap/pommel are all non-traditional, as is the method by which the hilt is fastened to the nakago (tang). Of note are the stylistic elements that repeat on the ferrule and the top of the grip, a foliate vine pattern executed in black lacquer. There is also remnants of gold paint or gilt on both the ferrule and the pommel cap.

The rattan binding matches similar binding found on the lone Ainu tanto I have found. However, I have not seen nearly enough Ainu-mounted Japanese blades to form an opinion.

And while the aesthetics IMO are distinctly East Asian, could the use of similar organic (though not same IMO) material on the ferrule and cap, while recalling fuchi and kashira, also indicate a possible influence of native tastes, i.e., influence from peninsular cultures surrounding colonial outposts like the one in Nakkom Si Thammarat?

20th August 2012, 11:31 PM	#1
laEspadaAncha Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 608	Staying on the Japanese Theme: Japanese Trade Blades in SE Asia I had posted this blade in another forum dedicated to the discussion of nihonto: It is a tanto-mounted naginata. For those not already familiar with the term, naginata were the Japanese polearms mounted with single-edged Japanese tanto- and wakizashi-length blades, used by both Samurai and Japanese foot soldiers. However, the mounting of this example is atypical of Japanese mountings, leading a couple members to suggest an attribution to the Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Hokaido, the Kuril Islands, and southern Sakhalin (Russia). Another poster suggested a possible attribution to one of the cultures or civilizations with whom the Japanese conducted trade. This latter comment sent me on a quest for information regarding Japanese trade during the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868). Wiki has a nice entry on the Japanese Red Seal trade, from which I read briefly about the export of Japanese blades and the existence of a mercenary community of Samurai and traders based in what is now present-day Nakkom Si Thammarat in southern Thailand. This colony was led by Yamada Nagamasa and he had 300 Samurai at his disposal (there was also an expat population of Japanese in Ayutthaya that was estimated to number between 1,500 and 7,000). They even fought alongside the armies of Ayuthatya in military campaigns of Songtham, who ruled Ayutthaya from 1611-1628. Apparently, the Japanese also engaged in acts of piracy against the Dutch in the waters between their settlement and Jakarta in and around 1620. Here is a map of the Japanese trade routes throughout SE Asia: As one of their exports was swords, and given the sheer quantity of swords and edged weapons produced in the preceding 100 years during the Sengoku Jidai - the Age of the Country at War - what happened to all the trade blades that surely found there way from every port from Manila to Jakarta? One poster on the other forum mentioned having encountered a dha-mounted naginata years ago in Germany. Does anyone here have a picture of such an example they can share? I cannot say I recall ever having seen firsthand a Japanese trade blade in native mountings. Which brings me back full circle to this example… In addition to the habaki (the sleeve over the bottom of the blade), the tanto also had two menuki (small hilt ornaments) attached, both traditional Japanese mountings. However, the ferrule, grip, grip cap/pommel are all non-traditional, as is the method by which the hilt is fastened to the nakago (tang). Of note are the stylistic elements that repeat on the ferrule and the top of the grip, a foliate vine pattern executed in black lacquer. There is also remnants of gold paint or gilt on both the ferrule and the pommel cap. The rattan binding matches similar binding found on the lone Ainu tanto I have found. However, I have not seen nearly enough Ainu-mounted Japanese blades to form an opinion. And while the aesthetics IMO are distinctly East Asian, could the use of similar organic (though not same IMO) material on the ferrule and cap, while recalling fuchi and kashira, also indicate a possible influence of native tastes, i.e., influence from peninsular cultures surrounding colonial outposts like the one in Nakkom Si Thammarat?