Gunbai: Ancient Japanese Warfare

Masakari (鉞) - The Samurai's War Axe Samurai holding a battle axe; detail from the  春日権現験記. 第８軸 Also know as Ono ( 斧 ) or as Fuetsu ( 斧鉞 ), this weapon is one of the less related within the "Samurai warfare" context. For many years inside the internet I've read a lot of stuffs about the fact that Samurai didn't use Axes in battle. If there is someone to blame, his name is Bashford Dean .  Although I do extremely respect the man for his pioneering approach inside the field of Samurai Arms & Armors in the late 19th and early 20th century, we can read in his first catalogue, "Catalogue of  the Loan Collection of Japanese Armor" dated 1905 from the "Metropolitan Museum of Art" one of the most "romantic" cliché associated within the Samurai warrior culture.                          Bashford Dean wearing Samurai Armor Quoting from the man itself, page 10 of the catalogue: " "In Japan, on the ...