This is the first book in English to provide a fully illustrated guide to the use of polearms ranging from the earliest halberds and spears reaching Japan from the Asian mainland to the sophisticated naginata, nagamaki and various forms of yari used by the Japanese samurai through the medieval perio[...]
This fully illustrated volume, including an eight-page colour-plate section, is the first in-depth study in English to examine the warrior and shamanic characteristics and significance of "tengu" in the martial art culture ("bugei") of Muromachi Japan (1336-1573). According to Roald Knutsen, who is [...]