Polearms
Yari
槍
The Japanese spear.
Form and name
Yari is a Japanese spear: a blade mounted on a long shaft. Both blade shapes and shaft lengths vary. Historical museum objects show some of this variety.
Read more: terms and context
Yari → sōjutsu
Yari names the spear; sōjutsu names spear techniques. The same character, 槍, has different readings in these words.
Source for the word jutsu: Kanjipedia
Tradition and context
Yari is discussed in Kukishin-ryū sōjutsu and in Hatsumi’s published weapons work. Its form provides a different framework for movement and distance from a short staff.
Sources and further reading
Practitioner sources describe the tradition’s practice and terminology. They are not used alone as evidence for early historical claims.