- Officer:: "That's Yoriki Yamato's horse. You miscreant !"
- Musashi:: "His sodegarami, too."
- — Musashi's theft not going unnoticed
The sodegarami (袖搦) is a traditional Japanese polearm from the Edo period, used primarily in historical law enforcement.
In the episode Akane No Mai, the ronin Musashi and his criminal gang arrive at the square next to the teahouse, in Shogunworld’s town of Hirafuku. Musashi is stopped by a local officer, angered by the theft of his fellow officer’s horse and sodegarami. Musashi raises the stolen weapon, commenting on its ownership, then attacks the officer’s neck area with the striking implements. Dismounting from the horse, he delivers a killing blow to the wounded officer with one of the thrusting ends, then hands the sodegarami to a fellow gang member and walks into the teahouse.
As the scene is meant to mirror the Mariposa Saloon heist in Westworld , Musashi is initially armed with a weapon stolen from a local officer of the law, just like his Western outlaw counterpart Hector.
Background[]
The weapon was part of a typical trio of 17th-18th century Japanese law enforcement polearms, referred to as the torimono sandogu ("three tools of arresting"). The sodegarami's name literally means "sleeve entangler", due to a fork-shaped metal head used for catching fleeing individuals, by grabbing them by their sleeves or other parts of their clothes, then tangling the apparel. Since kimono and similarly tailored traditional clothing were worn by many Japanese citizens, including wealthier commoners, this made the sodegarami useful for forcibly halting a suspicious or non-complying person.
Functionally, the sodegarami is a combination polearm, featuring several different implements, for different uses. Below the forkhead for arresting lies a set of metal plates with protruding knobs and nails, meant for striking opponents (in the manner of a long-hafted mace). The lower end of the sodegarami includes a sharp metal spike, useful for thrusting attacks. (This sort of feature also appeared in some medieval European impact weapons, such as pollaxes and pollhammers.)
Notable users[]
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
Hiroyuki Sanada contributed to the production design of Shogunworld as an unofficial historical consultant. As he explained in one interview about his participation in Season Two, one of several recommendations he suggested to the production crew was his character using a sodegarami at the beginning of the teahouse heist. He also explained the purpose of the sodegarami for the 17th century Japanese police. [1]
Gallery[]
.jpg "Torimono sandogu (tools for capturing criminals).jpg (72 KB)")