This Kikuchi (菊池槍 ) Yari is without doubt one of my favourite pieces, it has all the activity you could want in a Japanese sword.
Some sources state that during the battle of Chikugo-gawa river the Samurai family 菊池氏 Kikuchi clan of 南朝 Nanchou, had almost all their weapon broken and all their arrows finished during the battle. During the last battle, the 菊池Kikuchi Samurai mounted their Tanto blades on the top of bamboo shafts and used those as spears, which eventually granted them their glorious victory. Based on this legend, the type of Yari blades later known as Kikuchi-yari was ordered by the Kikuchi family to be made by the famous 延寿 Enjo school smiths.
It is rare to find Kikuchi Yari with unaltered nakago, most have been cut down to be used as tanto.
Period – Koto – Muromachi (1336-1573)
Paper – No Papers
Mei – Mumei
Nagasa – 30.3 cm
Sugata – Kanmuri-Otoshi Zukuri
Sori – 0.1 cm
Mune – Iori
Kasane – 0.7 cm
Mihaba – 2.7 cm
Nakago – Ubu
Mekugi Anna – 1
Yasurime – Not Seen
Hamon – Nioi-deki
Boshi – Ko-maru
Hada – Itame
Price – £1200
