Talk:Masakari

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Were these intended as weapons, or were they farmer's tools, woodcutters' axes, or the like, adapted from their peaceful purposes? LordAmeth 10:33, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

鉞 (masakari) refers axes with wide blades, which also called 刃広 (habiro, lit. "blade, wide"), and not limited to battle-axes. Those with narrow blades are called 斧 (yoki) or 狭刃 (seba, lit. "narrow blade"). These two types are generically called 斧鉞 (fuetsu) or in Buddhism 鉞斧 (eppu). Both were originally woodcutters' tools. These axes were believed to defeat the evil spirits. And so, some bosatsu statues have axes in their hands. This is also the reason that axes have important religious meaning for yamabushi, not only as their physical weapons. The term masakari is familiar to Japanese as Kintaro's weapon. --210.237.247.228 (talk) 14:06, 11 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]