Did Samurai Use Battle Axes
Even spears that were pointed and not curved had very large heads for slashing through.
Did samurai use battle axes. Great phalanxes and spear divisions were added into the mix over the course of the middle ages with a final concentration on guns in the latter half of the 16th century. Samurai and japanese warriors used those kindred weapons and quite effectively. The tanto was not the samurai primary war weapon since it hardly had any use against spears and swords. In the first stages of the samurai era from the 12th century and up to the late 15th century warfare was characterised by highly mobile cavalry archer units early battles were conducted predominantly on horseback.
The naginata a long bladed polearm was a traditional weapon throughout the history of feudal japan. The samurai warrior by ben hubbard. It was especially popular with the sohei a sect of warrior monks. A tanto was a weapon featuring a single edged and curved blade.
Many existing examples of this particular weapon are associated with the sōhei warrior monks or yamabushi 1 who also adapt other agricultural tools as weapons although samurai are also pictured as using ono in woodblock prints. Yet battle axes differs from those used to work with threes and forest and were also deeply related with the military culture. It might not be a surprise since axes used as tools were highly developed due to the relevance of wood s architecture and carpentry in medieval japan. The unprotected gaps in samurai armor probably kept slashing weapons relatively valid even throughout the sengoku jidai which shows in their use of different spearheads and naginatas.
This was designed specifically for soft targets and was one of the samurai weapons.