Kabutowari

The Kabutowari (Japanese: 兜割, lit. "helmet breaker" or "skull breaker"^[1]), also known as hachiwari, was a type of knife-shaped weapon, resembling a jitte in many respects. This weapon was carried as a side-arm by the samurai class of feudal Japan.

Antique Japanese hachiwari with a nihonto style of handle

Types

Kabutowari were usually around 35 cm (14 in) long; some larger versions are around 45 cm (18 in) long.^[2] There were two types of kabutowari: a dirk-type and a truncheon-type.

The dirk-type was forged with a sharp dirk-like point,^[3] which could be used to parry an opponent's sword, to hook the cords of armor or a helmet, or like a can opener to separate armor plates. The sharp point could pierce unprotected or weak areas of an opponent's armor like the armpit area.^[3] The blade of this type of kabutowari was a curved tapered square^[4] iron or steel bar with a hook on its back edge.^[5] In combat, one could parry and catch a blade with that hook, as with a jitte. Some kabutowari of this type were mounted in the style of a tantō with a koshirae.^[3]

The truncheon-type was blunt, cast iron or forged truncheon-like weapon resembling a tekkan or a jitte. This type of kabutowari had the same basic shape as the dirk-type, including the hook, but it was usually blunt and not meant for stabbing.^{[citation needed]}

Use

It would appear, according to Serge Mol, that tales of samurai breaking open a kabuto (helmet) are more folklore than anything else.^[6] The hachi (helmet bowl) is the central component of a kabuto; it is made of triangular plates of steel or iron riveted together at the sides and at the top to a large, thick grommet of sorts (called a tehen-no-kanamono), and at the bottom to a metal strip that encircles the hachi.^[7][8] This would require enormous pressure to split open.^{[original research?]} This idea that the kabutowari was somehow able to smash or damage a helmet kabuto is most probably a misinterpretation of the name which could have several meanings, as hachi could mean skull or helmet bowl and wari could mean, split, rip, crack or smash.^[6]

In modern times there is no ryū (school or style) known to train with kabutowari, although certain dojos within Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu still train with them, as an extension of jittejutsu.^[9] A number of weapons retailers in Japan still sell usable kabutowari.^[10]

Gallery

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  Antique Japanese kabutowari
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  Antique Japanese hachi wari (kabutowari) mounted in a shirasaya
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  Antique Japanese kabutowari
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  Antique Japanese kabutowari. Close up of the hand guard and the wrapped handle.