Smoke & steel: Weapons concealed as tobacco pipes & smokers’ accessories in early modern Japan

Abstract

Tobacco quickly found favour in Japan after its introduction in the late sixteenth century, leading to the development of the kiseru—a distinctive Japanese tobacco pipe. Building upon a long-standing tradition of concealing weapons within a variety of mundane objects, tobacco pipes and smokers’ accessories were soon modified to incorporate hidden spikes, blades, and even firearms. This short article, believed to be the first detailed assessment in the English language, explores the fascinating world of these covert self-defence tools. Through the examination of select artefacts, historical sources, and popular culture, this study provides a concise overview of these objects, shedding light on their design and purpose, and situating them within the broader Japanese arms and armour tradition.

Keywords:

• tobacco pipes
• concealed weapons
• Japanese weapons
• kiseru
• shikomibuki

Acknowledgements

The author extends his thanks to Chris Bowen and Paul Bowman for their assistance with fine-tuning the description of the shikomi kiseruzutsu kantei, and to Justin Baird for his very helpful illustrations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Suzuki Toshio & Miwa Ryoichi, The First Century of Japan Tobacco Inc.: Origins and Evolution, 1904–2008 (Thomas I. Elliott, trans.) (Tokyo: Japan Tobacco Inc., 2009), 6–7.

2 A short story by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, titled ‘Tabako to Akuma’ (煙草と悪魔; ‘Tobacco and the Devil’) recounts a legend that the Devil himself brought tobacco to Japan: “Tobacco is a plant that once did not exist in Japan. As to when it was shipped here, the records do not agree on a date. However, by the tenth year of Keichō [1605], cultivation was already underway in various places. In the Bunroku era [1592–1596], smoking became so popular that [a humorous saying mentioning futile attempts to restrict tobacco] was coined” (Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, ‘Tabako to Akuma’ [‘Tobacco and the Devil’], Shinshichō, Vol. 4 (1916)).

3 As tobacco was cut ever finer in Japan, Japanese pipe bowls actually became smaller over time (Suzuki & Miwa, 2009, p. 9).

4 For more information on kiseru pipes, see, for example: Kiseru (Tokyo: Tobacco & Salt Museum, 1988).

5 Mark D. Bishop, Okinawan Weaponry (Q&I Publications, 2009), 265–266.

6 Don Cunningham, Samurai Weapons: Tools of the Warrior (North Clarendon: Tuttle Books, 2008), 27–29.

7 Serge Mol, Classical Weaponry of Japan: Special Weapons and Tactics of the Martial Arts (Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2003), 88–90; Rosemary Bandini, ‘Buyokiseru’, Rosemary Bandini Japanese Art (website, n.d.). A line drawing of a martial artist armed with a buyōkiseru appears in a martial arts manual published in 1888 (Arai Tomosada [新井朝定], Kōkoku Bujutsu Eimeiroku [‘A Directory of Renowned Martial Arts of the Nation’], Vol. 1 (Tokyo: Eizanzo, 1888)).

8 Takano Toshio, ‘The Spirit of Kabuki: The Genealogy of ‘Kabuki-mono’’, Bulletin of Gifu Shotoku Gakuen, № 27 (1993), 328–347.

9 ‘Kabuki’, Geino Kadensha [Japan Association of Performing Arts Performers] (n.d.), https://www.geidankyo.or.jp/12kaden/entertainments/kabuki.html.

10 ‘Kabuki & Tobacco’, Japan Tobacco (n.d.), https://www.jti.co.jp/tobacco/knowledge/society/kabuki/index.html.

11 Manga (漫画) are comics or graphics novels originating in Japan, typically with a distinctively Japanese art, and sometimes narrative, style. The animated equivalent is anime (アニメ).

12 See, for example: Ryū Keiichirō, Hara Tetsuo & Asou Mio, ‘Part 25: Sendōan’ in Hana no Keiji 2 (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1990), panel extract available via: https://www.facebook.com/hananokeiji.official/photos/a.344555209005529/468786863249029. The manga series is incredibly popular, and has also spawned an English translation, a video game (Hana no Keiji: Kumo no Kanata ni), an anime series (Gifū Dōdō!! Kanetsugu to Keiji), and even a branded pachinko machine (‘Hana no Keiji: Kumo no Kanata ni’, Ocean of Games (n.d.), https://ocean-of-games.com/game/44168/hana-no-keiji-kumo-no-kanata-ni/; ‘Gifū Dōdō!! Kanetsugu to Keiji (TV)’, Anime News Network (n.d.), https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=15290; ‘CR hananokeiji…’, Mura Pachi (YouTube video, 8 December 2019), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = 27DazWO1pSA.

13 Unfortunately, the author could not successfully make contact with the seller, and so the rights to reproduce the images they shared online could not be obtained for this article.

14 Western examples of pipe-daggers and pipe-pistols are also known, and are the subject of a forthcoming research article by this author. See: N.R. Jenzen-Jones, ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe: A Brief Survey of WeaponsDisguised as Western-style Tobacco Pipes’, Journal of the Académie Internationale de la Pipe (2024, forthcoming).

15 See, for example: Stanislaw Meyer, ‘In Defense of ‘Invented Traditions’: The History of Okinawa as Portrayed in Narratives of Karate’, Silva Iaponicarum, fasc. XV (Spring 2008), 11–32; Christopher M. Clarke, ‘Kobudo Myths and Misunderstandings’ in Okinawan Kobudo: A History of Weaponry Styles and Masters (Huntingtown: Clarke’s Canyon Press, 2013), 19–29; H. Richard Friman, ‘The Art of Regulation: Martial Arts as Threats to Social Order’ in Realistic Martial Arts for Violence and Peace (Michael DeMarco, ed.) (Santa Fe: Via Media, 2016), 10–11.

16 The Satsuma conquerors did further restrict the carriage of weapons and the possession of firearms, however (Bishop, 2009), 10–11; 49–52.

17 Quoted in: Kodama Kōta et al. (eds.), Shiryo ni yoru Nihon no Ayumi: Kodaihen [‘Japanese History Through Documents: Ancient Period’] (Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1960), p. 38.

18 Mol, 2003, ch. 7. The term kura-ki (暗器) is also sometimes used to refer to concealed weapons.

19 Cunningham, 2008, 27–29; 46.

20 ‘Hissatsu’, Asahi Broadcasting (website: n.d.), https://asahi.co.jp/hissatsu/.

21 For more information, see, for example: Kiseru (Tokyo: Tobacco & Salt Museum, 1988).

22 Felix van Tienhoven, ‘Rare Japanese Concealed Weapons’, Society for Clay Pipe Research Newsletter, № 75 (Spring–Summer 2009), 15–18. Shikomi kiseru are mentioned in a handful of specialist books, including Mol, 2003.

23 Suzuki Barnabas Tatsuya, ‘Tobacco Culture in Japan’ in Smoke: A Global History of Smoking (Sander L. Gilman & Zhou Xun, eds.) (London: Reaktion Books, 2004), 82.

24 The broader term shikomi-tantō (仕込み短刀) is also used, although such concealed weapons’ blades may not conform to traditional tantō formats, and may in fact be built from other blades, such as those taken from yari.

25 N.R. Jenzen-Jones, assessment of online sales of shikomi kiseru, shikomi kiseruzutsu, and related items (February–November 2023).

26 Jenzen-Jones, 2023. Note that the following assessment is made on the basis of limited images, the seller’s description, and the accompanying paperwork. It is thus, necessarily, only indicative in nature. The original auction listing is no longer available online, as the site does not preserve listings. Additionally, and most unfortunately, the author could not successfully make contact with the seller, and so the rights to reproduce the images shared online could not be obtained for this article.

27 On 28 March 1876, the Meiji government issued a ban on the carriage of swords (Haitōrei; 廃刀令; Sword Abolishment Edict) as part of a range of reforms seeking to curb the influence of the samurai, and promote a ‘modern’ society (Ochiai Hiroki, Chitsurokushobun: Meijiishin to bushi no risutora [‘Abolishing Chitsuroku: The Meiji Restoration and the Restructuring of the Samurai’] (Tokyo: Chūōkōron-shinsha, 1999), 63; 161–162).

54, 13; 93–98.

28 Jenzen-Jones, 2023.

29 Japanese blade measurements do not include the length of the nakago (tang).

30 The term muji-fū (無地風)—indicating the steel tends to show no structure, rather than signalling its absence—is sometimes preferred.

31 Nioi (匂) refers to particles of martensite in the steel which, in contrast with nie particles, cannot be seen with the naked eye.

32 Jenzen-Jones, 2023.

33 W.M. Hawley, Japanese Swordsmiths: Revised (Hollywood: self-published, 1981), KAN 2559.

34 See: https://www.touken.or.jp/shinsa/syousyo.html.

35 A fine example of a yatate teppō (矢立鉄砲; ‘writing case gun’) is held in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum (object № F-20131).

36 Mol, 2003, 188–189.

37 ‘Tetsu tanjū katachi nobe kiseru’ [‘Iron short-gun-shaped nobe kiseru’] (Tobacco & Salt Museum, n.d.), https://www.tabashio.jp/collection/other/kiseru/k9/index.html.

38 Unfortunately, the author could not successfully make contact with the production company, and so the rights to reproduce a screen capture could not be obtained for this article.

39 Kaiun! (Tokyo: TV Tokyo, 30 June 2015), summary available via: https://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/kantei/kaiun_db/otakara/20150630/02.html.

40 ‘Kume Eizaemon’ in Asahi Nihon rekishi jinbutsu jiten [‘Asahi Encyclopaedia of Japanese Historical Figures’] (digital edition, n.d.), via Kotobank: https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%B9%85%E7%B1%B3%E6%A0%84%E5%B7%A6%E8%A1%9B%E9%96%80-1072335; Okada Yuiyoshi, Kume eizaemon ryakuden [‘A Short Biography of Kume Eizaemon’] (Kagawa: Taisei Yokusankai, 1945).

41 See: ‘Hiraga Gennai’ in Asahi Nihon rekishi jinbutsu jiten [‘Asahi Encyclopaedia of Japanese Historical Figures’] (digital edition, n.d.), via Kotobank: https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%B9%B3%E8%B3%80%E6%BA%90%E5%86%85-14928; Lissa Roberts, ‘Orienting Natural Knowledge: The Complex Career of Hiraga Gennai’, Endeavour, Vol. 33 № 2 (June 2009), 65–69, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.endeavour.2009.04.009.

42 See, for example: Takahashitoshi, Shimizunojirochō: bakumatsu ishin to bakuto no sekai [‘Shimizu Jirocho: The Bakumatsu Restoration and the World of Gamblers’] (Tokyo: Iwanami Shinsho, 2009).

43 Two airguns (object nos. MY0#00338 and MY0#00339) and a palm pistol (MY0#00341) are recorded in the digital collection database: http://jmapps.ne.jp/kpm/index.html.

44 Kaiun!, 2015.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

N. R. Jenzen-Jones

N.R. Jenzen-Jones is a technical intelligence specialist and historian focusing on arms and munitions. He is the Director of Armament Research Services (ARES), the Editor of Armax: The Journal of Contemporary Arms, and the founder of Helios House Press. He holds a Visiting Fellowship in the School of Law, Policing and Forensics at the University of Staffordshire and was awarded the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s 2022–2023 Resident Fellowship for his work with the Cody Firearms Museum. Mr. Jenzen-Jones maintains a broad focus on how weapons of all periods are selected, acquired, stockpiled, and employed. He is a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, a life member of the Ordnance Society, and a member of the International Ammunition Association (IAA), the European Cartridge Research Association (ECRA), the Pike & Shot Society, and the Arms & Armour Society.