A senbakoki in use, from a Hokusai print (date not known)
Senbakoki blades as a possible source material for shuriken of some schools.
Danny Fletcher, a visitor to this website, has been a great contributor of info and pics. He is currently training Martial Arts in Japan, and is also a shuriken enthusiast. After reading about Otsuka Sensei's speculation regarding senbakoki blades elsewhere on this site, he found one in an antique shop in Naruto, Chiba, and removed the blades to have a closer look at the possibility of them being used for throwing. He sent these pics as a record of his discovery.
A
senbakoki in use, from a Hokusai print (date not known)
The
senbakoki is a Tokugawa period farming implement, used for separating the
rice from the stems, and was in use up until the early part of the 20th Century.
It's use died out with the advent of western farming technologies around the time
of the second world war.Yasuyuki Otsuka Sensei of Meifu Shinkage Ryu has suggested
that the source material for certain shuriken was once the blades of a
machine such as this. I include the photos here in the interest of ongoing research.
More information will be posted as it comes to hand.
(Photos copyright
Danny Fletcher, used with permission)
The
senbakoki as it appeared in the shop. The number of teeth in the machine
varies.
Getting
the blades free.
The
removed blade, a bit bent and rusty. Length 11.5 inches (29cm), width 0.5 inches.
The blade can be filed down to a usable size
This
example has blades that are triangular, others also have a square section.
The
nine blades removed and ready for cleanup.
After
the rust removal, detail of the shape can be seen.
Detail of the tip
Detail
of the end
The
blades now cut down to 20cm length, sharpened and finished off.
Danny says
they throw and stick very well.
