Talk:Kusarigama

I went ahead and rewrote most of this.

The Inuyasha stuff was nice, especially since I wrote it three months ago on an anime discussion board, but I'm not entirely sure why it was placed here, so I got rid of that.

I could go into a paragraph or two about *why* you can't swing the sickle-end around and expect to hit anything, but I'm not sure that's relevant to the article.

Question for previous editor: How is the kusarigama *not* derived from the kama?

Scribe--69.168.38.86 07:15, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

since it was apparently stolen

i think that you statement about throwing only the weight is incorrect. iseing the Kama end gives it a 10 foot reach AND the chance to entangle. Oh, well.

It just not practical. The way it spins in mid-air (around its axis, rather than along it) severely reduces any chance of cutting or piercing the target. Plus, if the blade wraps around an opponent's arm, you've given them a weapon to use against you. Also, per the above statement, I think it IS worth mentioning that the blade isn't commonly thrown, as depicted in fiction, but specific examples aren't necessary. --71.176.47.75 (talk) 17:28, 18 May 2013 (UTC)

Question about name

I did a bit of editing and clean-up, but I didn't add any text/info. One question, though.... The article uses two different ways to spell/punctuate the name of this weapon: "kusarigama" and "kusari-gama". Is one more correct than the other? Does it matter? It would be good to be consistant within the article, but I have little/no expertise in the subjects of Japanese language (or translation thereof) OR martial arts weapons, I don't know what to do. Any suggestions? Mutableye 02:53, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

I think "Kusarigama" is better than "Kusari-gama" as the latter could be mistaken to be a combined form of "kusari" and "gama". --Revth 03:22, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

As with most issues of Romanizing Japanese, it's essentially a moot issue. The only truly correct way to write a Japanese word is with Japanese orthography, so the best we can do without learning kana and kanji is to approximate. Now, on the one hand, the word is compounded using regular, systematic rules. On the other hand, it is a fixed phrase that regularly applies to a very similar and recognizable object every time it is used. It's probably also important that -gama isn't a regularly suffixed form to other words, like -shi (city) or similar classifiers that normally tend to take hyphens when Romanized. Ultimately, all those facts remain fairly pointless, as I still can't conclude whether the sum of various factors prefers for or against the hyphen. I really don't think it's wrong either way. Tsunomaru (talk) 07:02, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Not sure how to change this, but a Kama isn't the same as a sickle, despite the remark in the opening paragraph. If anyone knows how to change opening paragraphs, would you mind doing so?

tomAto/tomOto

I was under the impression that it was Kasurigama. I've seen it spelled this way before but which way is right? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Stupidninja (talk • contribs) 19:18, 2 April 2007 (UTC).

"kusarigama". People who know no or little Japanese often commit typographical errors when copying Romanized Japanese they've seen somewhere -- since that's a lot of letters, and native English speakers don't have any good self-correcting instincts for foreign words -- and that's most likely what happened when you saw it the wrong way. Tsunomaru (talk) 16:17, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Fortification Weapon

Is this really a "Fortification weapon"? I was thinking it was more of a "Personal Weapon". 24.10.168.198 (talk) 05:41, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Sure; as the articles says, "Kusarigama have also been employed as anti-siege weapons, with the chain allowing the weapon to be retrieved after it was thrown downwards at an attacking force." --Gwern (contribs) 02:22 7 June 2008 (GMT)

In popular culture (WAY too much trivia, needs to be selected and re-edited)

• In InuYasha, Sango's brother, Kohaku, uses the kusarigama as his weapon.
• Axl Low from the Guilty Gear series uses a kusarigama, though his has two sickles on the chain.
• Hattori Hanzo from the Samurai Warriors series is portrayed as a ninja who uses a kusarigama, albeit using the aforementioned "sickle as the primary weapon" form. He also appears with this weapon in Warriors Orochi.
• In the anime/manga series, Bleach, Mayuri Kurotsuchi uses a kusarigama, which he pulls from his ear.
• In the anime/manga series, Bleach, Jinnai Doukou uses a kusarigama bakkōtō which he devours to unleash its power.
• In the anime/manga series, Bleach, Shuhei Hisagi's zanpakutō is a kusarigama-like weapon that uses an extra sickle instead of a weighted chain. The two blades of each end of the weapon also resemble axial fans, in that they can rotate freely.
• Kusari from Sluggy Freelance is a female ninja/assassin named after the weapon, and wields either a kama or a kusarigama as her weapon of choice.
• Vagabond depicts a 'Tsujikaze Kōhei' (in-universe, the successor to the real Shishidō Baiken and responsible for the weapon's notoriety) wielding the kusarigama with the weighted end as the primary attack, and the mechanical aspects of the technique (in particular the reach and range) are crucial to his duel with Musashi; his defeat comes not from the use of a throwing knife, but from Musashi surprising him by intentionally drawing both swords; Musashi simply allowed the short sword to be the one entangled and then struck Baiken with the long sword. (In the historical encounter between Baiken and Musashi, Baiken died.)
• In the manga Soul Eater, a kusarigama that uses an extra sickle instead of a weighted chain is the primary weapon form of Black Star's weapon Tsubaki — though she often takes the forms of other ninja weapons and tools.
• Leinheart from Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom can wield kusarigama as one of his main weapons.
• Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden 2 can wield a kusarigama as one of his weapons.
• Anubis from Ronin Warriors uses a kusarigama with a bladed weight as his weapon of choice.
• in Ruronuni Kenshin, during the Shishio Arc, the crossdresser Honjō Kamatari uses a large very heavy version of a kusarigama, called a Ogama. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 164.58.180.16 (talk) 22:47, 29 September 2009 (UTC)
• In Curse of the Golden Flower, the emperors assassins wielded a Chinese version of these
• Kusari-Gama is an Equipment card in the trading card game Magic: the Gathering.
• The kusarigama is the weapon of choice for the female Backlash character in the Wildstorm Comics universe and upcoming WildC.A.T.s World's End
• In Bobobo, the kusarigama is often used as comic relief
• In Samurai Showdown, the character Earthquake wields an enormous kusarigama.
• In the anime Samurai Champloo, the character Umanosuke uses a special sickle which turns into an incredibly long kusarigama when fighting the character Mugen.
• In the video game of the manga/anime series One Piece, (One Piece: Unlimited Adventure and One Piece: Unlimited Cruise), Luffy has an attacks that is Gomu Gomu no Kusarigama (English: Gum Gum Sickle).
• In the anime series and video game Naruto, Tenten uses a Kusarigama on some occasions
• "Kusarigama" is the name of one of Aoi Umenokouji's kicking moves in the Virtua Fighter series. It is basically an Aikido axe kick.
• On SpikeTV's Deadliest Warrior, the kusarigama was one of the Ninja's weapons. It was tested against the Spartan's shield. The sickle couldn't penetrate the armor of the Spartan, but the ball & chain could provide enough force to kill the Spartan. The Kusarigama provided the ninja 220 kills for it's 347 kills in 1,000 simulated battle against the Spartan.
• Kenji from the game Red Earth uses the Kusarigama in several of his attacks.
• On the show Deadliest Warrior, the Kusarigama is said to be disguised as a Sickle when in use by a ninja.
• In the 1989 video game Budokan: The Martial Spirit, an opponent named "Hiroshi Ikeda" uses Kusarigama as his weapon.

See what I did with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuriken#In_popular_culture or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_(weapon)#In_popular_culture for example.

Okay, I guess I already did it :) --Ostateczny Krach Systemu Korporacji (talk) 15:19, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

The most effective of the ninja weapons tested on deadliest warrior?

Didn't the kusarigama earn the ninja the majority if their kills on deadliest warrior. If so shouldn't it be mentioned that it was the most effective of all their weapons on the show in its trivia entry? --WikiDonn (talk) 22:31, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Kusarigamajutsu Merge

I think that Kusarigamajutsu should be merged into this article because it doesn't really add anything new, but just regurgitates what was said in this article's summary.

     Ora Stendar 23:25, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

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Oh-Gama (Big Sickle)

[1] [2] Variation or different weapon? 89.201.199.104 (talk) 20:11, 8 November 2020 (UTC)

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Yoninah (talk) 17:21, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

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• Comment or view
• Article history

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Two kusarigamas

• ... that a kusarigama (two pictured) is a traditional Japanese weapon that was used by samurai women?

• Reviewed: Openload
• Comment: DYKcheck states that the article hasn't been expanded 5x, but the tool is basing it off of a 2005 version.

5x expanded by SL93 (talk). Self-nominated at 02:47, 29 December 2020 (UTC).

• This is a really interesting topic, and the article looks decent. I am happy that the expansion meets the rules as written. (They are, if anything, ambiguous, but the spirit of the rules is met here, and I think we should be more willing to bend the rules for such an interesting topic). I think the hook (and the source used for it) could be a bit better. I wonder if there might be an interesting hook in the speculation on the weapon's origin, or the fact it is useful against an opponent with a sword, or even just what it is? How about something like "...that a kusarigama is a traditional Japanese weapon consisting of a sickle (kama) on a weighted chain (kusari-fundo)?" Josh Milburn (talk) 11:39, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

• J Milburn I think that Black Belt is an acceptable source for the hook and I did try to find another one, but I had no luck. I am fine with removing the sentence if you disagree. I'm not really a fan of a hook that only states what it is, but I do have some alts. I did fix a typo that said it wasn't useful against anything other than a sword to that it was less useful against other weapons. Thanks for the review.
• ALT1 ... that the sickle (kama), which was later part of the traditional Japanese weapon kusarigama (two pictured), may have been used for agriculture and as a weapon?
• ALT2 ... that the traditional Japanese weapon kusarigama (two pictured) was useful against a sword, but it was not as useful against a spear, a naginata, or a bō? SL93 (talk) 16:06, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

• Point taken about Black Belt; the way you'd formatted the source meant I wasn't as clear on what was being cited as I might be. I like both of the alts, especially the latter. Josh Milburn (talk) 16:28, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

• I've tweaked the citation; I see you cite a few other articles in Black Belt. It may be worth updating them; your citations aren't very clear! Josh Milburn (talk) 16:31, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

General eligibility:

• New enough:
• Long enough:
• Other problems:

Policy compliance:

• Adequate sourcing:
• Neutral:
• Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:
• Other problems:

Hook eligibility:

• Cited:
• Interesting:
• Other problems:

Image: Image is freely licensed, used in the article, and clear at 100px.
Freely licensed: Used in article: Clear at 100px:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: ALT2 is my favourite. Josh Milburn (talk) 16:28, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

• @J Milburn: Hi, I came by to promote this, but am wondering what was wrong with ALT0? Samurai women and those ugly-looking weapons make a very hooky combination. Yoninah (talk) 23:39, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

• Yoninah I have no idea. I prefer it more than the others which is why it's my original hook. SL93 (talk) 23:43, 12 January 2021 (UTC)
• I'm not sure if it's the source, but I thought that was resolved already and Black Belt is a reliable source for martial arts. The book Samurai Women 1184–1877 (event happened in 1649 per book) backs it up even more with the story of a woman samurai who used the weapon. SL93 (talk) 00:04, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

• OK. Waiting to hear from Josh Milburn. Yoninah (talk) 00:06, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

• @SL93 and Yoninah: I was initially concerned about the source, but I have been set right on that. My remaining worry is that the source simply says "and a few women learned to use more obscure weapons like the kusarigama -- the sickle and chain". It's not the case that this was a "woman's weapon" or part of the women's training regime or anything. I am not saying that the hook is untrue -- it's supported by the source -- I just think that the alternative hooks get at the core of the topic a little better. (I don't think it was me who crossed out the original hook.) Josh Milburn (talk) 14:24, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

• @Yoninah: Can we just go with the approved ALT2? SL93 (talk) 14:44, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

• If everyone prefers the original hook, there's no objection from me -- as far as I'm concerned, I've approved all the hooks. Josh Milburn (talk) 14:57, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

• OK, SL93. Restoring tick for ALT2. Yoninah (talk) 15:51, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

• Yoninah Thanks. I'm hoping this gets promoted soon since it would have been promoted yesterday, but I can wait if it causes trouble to build a balanced set now. I'm also fine if the image isn't used. SL93 (talk) 16:50, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

• @SL93: Hold on, I want to use the image. Yoninah (talk) 16:59, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

• Yoninah Ok. I can do that. I was just trying to be flexible, but I do like the image. SL93 (talk) 17:01, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Also, the weapon is said to have the highest mortality rate of any and all weapons of its time.

For whom? The users? The opponents? If the latter: what is "mortality rate" based on? This feels less like an encyclopedic entry than a fanboi addition. 165.1.194.41 (talk) 08:41, 19 January 2021 (UTC)

@165.1.194.41: That was there before I expanded the article and I assumed good faith that this part matched the page number. Though, anyone is fully capable of removing it per Wikipedia being the encyclopedia that anyone can edit. SL93 (talk) 13:48, 19 January 2021 (UTC)

Weapon names

Tell me weapons names 175.157.249.231 (talk) 12:28, 13 January 2023 (UTC)