✦ Member
← Arsenal

WABUKAN Arsenal · Bows and throwing · Japan

Shuriken

Small throwing blades: straight spikes (bo-shuriken) or flat stars (hira-shuriken). They served mostly to distract and slow an opponent, not to kill.

Shuriken
Shuriken WABUKAN illustration

Also known as

手裏剣 · bō-shuriken; shaken (hira-shuriken)

Origin and history

Throwing blades were a minor, concealed weapon used by samurai as a distraction or support to the sword. Schools such as Negishi-ryū and Shirai-ryū (Edo period) taught shurikenjutsu; the link to ninja comes mostly from 20th-century fiction.

Martial arts that use it

Ninjutsu

Construction

Two main families: bō-shuriken, straight spikes of about 12–21 cm, and shaken or hira-shuriken, flat plates with several points, often made from coins, nails or washers.

Basic techniques

Training

Ranged weapons are trained on a range with a safe backstop: stance, grip, release and breathing are repeated until the movement is identical every time. Distance increases only after the form is stable.

Safety

Only shoot or throw on a supervised range with a safe backstop, never towards anything you would not want to hit, and never retrieve while others are shooting or throwing.

Legality (general information)

Bows, throwing blades and similar weapons are often legal to own but may only be used on approved ranges or under club rules; some throwing weapons (such as shuriken or throwing stars) are banned outright in several countries. This is general information, not legal advice: check local law and your federation’s rules.

Did you know?

The film image of the ninja throwing a “star” at every enemy is modern; historically the straight bō-shuriken was more common.

More weapons

Gakgung Chakram Yumi

Sources

Original WABUKAN text, written from these cross-checked sources (facts, not sentences).

  1. Wikipedia — Shuriken