kusarigama

thumb|Two kusarigama|alt=refer to caption A is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of a kama (the Japanese equivalent of a sickle or billhook) on a kusari-fundo – a type of metal chain (kusari) with a heavy iron weight (fundo) at the end. The kusarigama is said to have been developed during the Muromachi period. The art of handling the kusarigama is called kusarigamajutsu.

==History== The researcher Nawa Yumio believes that the kusarigama was based on the jingama, a tool that resembles a sickle, which was used to cut through a horse's ropes in the case of a fire. The jingama could also be used as a weapon and according to Nawa, the tool might have been combined with a , which is a chain that contained a weighted end and a chain around the user's wrist. People would wield the weapons with both hands to protect their horses against criminals. Another theory is that the kusarigama is based on the tobiguchi (:ja:鳶口), which is a type of axe that had a "stout haft and a short pick-like blade".