{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "canonicalUrl": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/objects/yari-study-02/",
  "recordUrl": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/objects/yari-study-02/record.json",
  "accession": "NA 2026.014",
  "title": "Yari Study II",
  "japaneseTitle": "槍 · 柄・鞘付",
  "classification": {
    "category": "nihonto",
    "form": "yari",
    "presentation": [
      "koshirae"
    ]
  },
  "period": "Period unrecorded · not established",
  "summary": "A 14.9 cm su-yari head with its long tang, complete with lacquered shaft and a fitted head cover. The source describes it as unsigned, but a short column of chiselled characters is visible on the tang.",
  "attribution": {
    "label": "Inscription present · unread",
    "japanese": "銘あり（判読不能）",
    "qualifier": "A vertical column of chiselled characters is visible on the tang; it is not legible at gallery resolution and no maker is proposed"
  },
  "highlights": [
    {
      "label": "Nagasa",
      "value": "14.9 cm"
    },
    {
      "label": "Mei",
      "value": "Characters present · unread"
    },
    {
      "label": "Condition",
      "value": "Rusted · unpapered"
    }
  ],
  "revisedOn": "2026-08-20",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "date": "2026-08-20",
      "note": "Catalogue record established from the ended listing and its 21 gallery photographs; chiselled characters on the tang are recorded although the source describes the blade as unsigned."
    }
  ],
  "hero": {
    "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/01.jpg",
    "alt": "Su-yari mounted on its lacquered shaft with the head cover laid alongside"
  },
  "sections": [
    {
      "title": "Object record",
      "facts": [
        {
          "label": "Item",
          "value": "Yari (槍) with its e (柄) and a fitted head cover"
        },
        {
          "label": "Mei",
          "value": "Chiselled characters present on the tang · not legible\n銘あり（判読不能）"
        },
        {
          "label": "Nagasa",
          "value": "14.9 cm"
        },
        {
          "label": "Width",
          "value": "Motohaba 1.9 cm"
        },
        {
          "label": "Kasane",
          "value": "Motogasane 0.9 cm"
        },
        {
          "label": "Form",
          "value": "Su-yari · straight head, stout lenticular section, no groove"
        },
        {
          "label": "Nakago",
          "value": "Full length, longer than the head; one mekugi-ana"
        },
        {
          "label": "Period",
          "value": "Unrecorded · no appraisal paper supplied"
        }
      ],
      "notes": [
        {
          "lead": "Inscription — a conflict with the source.",
          "body": "The source description states “Signed: Unsigned.” The photographs do not support that: a vertical column of at least three chiselled characters runs down the tang from just below the collar, the uppermost sitting within a squared outline. They are worn, coarse and not legible at gallery resolution, so nothing is read and no maker is proposed — but they are cut marks arranged as an inscription, not corrosion. The source's own wording is preserved verbatim in the sale details below, and this observation is recorded against it."
        },
        {
          "lead": "Terminology note.",
          "body": "The handle of a polearm is its e (柄, also ebu), not a tsuka. The head has its own fitted cover, recorded here as its saya."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Condition record",
      "facts": [
        {
          "label": "Photographs",
          "value": "Twenty-one archival photographs · no video"
        },
        {
          "label": "Documents",
          "value": "No registration card, NBTHK/NTHK paper, or other certificate shown"
        },
        {
          "label": "Completeness",
          "value": "Head, tang, shaft, collar and head cover all present; head draws freely"
        }
      ],
      "notes": [
        {
          "lead": "Visible record.",
          "body": "The head carries a mottled grey-and-dark surface with an even fine pitting rather than active scaling; the edges and point are unbroken. The tang is dark brown throughout. The shaft's lacquer is intact over most of its length with fine age cracking, and the head cover is worn through to bare material at one end. Nothing here classifies a defect."
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "plates": [
    {
      "number": "IV.1",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Mounting & Cover",
      "title": "All components",
      "japanese": "柄・鞘",
      "caption": "Everything the lot contains: the head seated on its lacquered shaft, and the separate cover that sheathes the head when the weapon is stored or carried.",
      "alt": "The mounted yari with its coarse-textured head cover laid above",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/01.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "IV.2",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Mounting & Cover",
      "title": "Assembled",
      "japanese": "柄・鞘",
      "caption": "The yari assembled. The shaft is dark red-brown lacquered wood with two black bands and a visible retaining pin below the head; its surviving length is a fraction of an original polearm's.",
      "alt": "The assembled yari, head uppermost",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/02.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "IV.3",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Mounting & Cover",
      "title": "Assembled · second view",
      "japanese": "柄・鞘",
      "caption": "The same assembly under a darker exposure, which brings out the depth of the lacquer and the banded joints along the shaft.",
      "alt": "The assembled yari under a darker exposure",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/03.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "IV.4",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Mounting & Cover",
      "title": "Components apart",
      "japanese": "柄・鞘",
      "caption": "The head withdrawn and laid beside the shaft. This is the plate that matters for study: unlike a seized mounting, this head comes free, so the whole tang is available for examination.",
      "alt": "Head withdrawn from the shaft, laid beside it with the cover above",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/04.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "IV.5",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Mounting & Cover",
      "title": "Components · second framing",
      "japanese": "柄・鞘",
      "caption": "The same three parts framed more closely, giving the relative lengths of head, tang and shaft in one view.",
      "alt": "The same three components framed more closely",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/05.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "IV.6",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Mounting & Cover",
      "title": "Head cover",
      "japanese": "柄・鞘",
      "caption": "The cover for the head: a tube finished in a coarse granular lacquer, worn through to a lighter material around the mouth. Its bore is shaped to the head rather than round.",
      "alt": "The head cover, a coarse-textured tube open at one end",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/19.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "IV.7",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Mounting & Cover",
      "title": "Shaft · butt end",
      "japanese": "柄・鞘",
      "caption": "The butt of the shaft, closed with a dark fitting whose end face carries a scatter of small pale points. The lacquer runs up to it cleanly.",
      "alt": "The butt end of the shaft with a dark cap",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/20.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "IV.8",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Mounting & Cover",
      "title": "Shaft · socket mouth",
      "japanese": "柄・鞘",
      "caption": "The socket at the head end, ringed with a metal collar. The mortise for the tang is visible inside, worn but clean, and fine age cracks run down the lacquer from the mouth.",
      "alt": "The mouth of the shaft socket with a metal ring",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/21.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.1",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Head & tang · first face",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "The head out of the shaft on its first face. The tang runs well over twice the length of the 14.9 cm head, tapering to a blunt point, with one mekugi-ana punched roughly midway.",
      "alt": "The head with its long tang, first face",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/06.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.2",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Head & tang · second face",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "The reverse. The collar at the base of the head is a separate fitting, swollen and irregular where it has corroded onto the shoulder.",
      "alt": "The head with its long tang, second face",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/07.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.3",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Nakago · chiselled characters",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "The upper tang, just below the collar. A vertical column of at least three chiselled characters runs down the face, the uppermost enclosed within a squared outline. They are worn, coarse, and not legible at this resolution — but they are cut, not corroded, and the source description records this blade as unsigned.",
      "alt": "The upper tang showing a vertical column of worn chiselled characters",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/09.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.4",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Nakago · mekugi-ana",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "The lower tang and its single mekugi-ana, cleanly punched with no elongation. The surface here is smooth dark brown with no further marks.",
      "alt": "The lower tang with its mekugi-ana",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/08.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.5",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Collar & junction",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "The collar at close range, seated where the head's shoulder meets the tang. Its edge is uneven and rust has bound it to the steel on one side.",
      "alt": "The collar at the junction of head and tang",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/16.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.6",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Head · full profile",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "The head from collar to point in profile: a straight su-yari of even taper, its widest point close to the collar and the section falling away steadily to the tip.",
      "alt": "The whole head from the collar to the point",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/17.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.7",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Head · broadside",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "The head broadside. The surface is mottled grey and dark brown with fine even pitting; the central ridge runs unbroken to the point on both faces.",
      "alt": "The head broadside, showing the full blade surface",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/18.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.8",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Blade surface · first face",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "Close on the first face. The pitting is fine and evenly distributed, with paler patches where the surface has been rubbed back; the edge line is unbroken along its length.",
      "alt": "Blade surface at close range, first face",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/10.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.9",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Blade surface · second face",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "Close on the second face, which is marginally cleaner. A soft lighter band follows the edge on this side; whether that reflects a hamon under the corrosion is not settled from photographs.",
      "alt": "Blade surface at close range, second face",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/11.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.10",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Ridge & shoulder",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "The ridge and the shoulder above the collar. The facets meet crisply, which suggests the geometry has not been ground away in any later cleaning.",
      "alt": "The ridge line at close range with the collar at the frame edge",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/12.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.11",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Base of the blade",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "The base of the blade above the collar, where the width is greatest and the section thickest. Grinding marks from an old sharpening run at a shallow angle across the flat.",
      "alt": "The base of the blade above the collar",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/14.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.12",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Point · first face",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "The point at close range: intact and still acute, with the ridge carried right to the tip and the surface cleaner here than along the body.",
      "alt": "The point of the head at close range",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/13.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.13",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Head & Nakago",
      "title": "Point · second face",
      "japanese": "穂・茎",
      "caption": "The point from the other face, showing the same unbroken outline and a bright line where light catches the ridge.",
      "alt": "The point from the other face",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-014/15.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    }
  ],
  "rights": {
    "catalogue": "© 2026 whiskey.works",
    "photographs": "Courtesy of GN-1-Japan, used with permission. No downstream reproduction permission is granted."
  }
}