Japanese war fan

"Iron Fan" redirects here. For the Journey to the West character, see Princess Iron Fan.
Antique Japanese (samurai) Edo period gunsen war fan, made of iron, bamboo and lacquer depicting the sun (1800–1850) on display at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, California

The Japanese war fan, or tessen (Japanese: 鉄扇,てっせん, romanized: tessen, lit. '"iron fan"'), is a Japanese hand fan used as a weapon or for signalling. Several types of war fans were used by the samurai class of feudal Japan and each had a different look and purpose.[1]

  1. ^ Mol, Serge (2003). Classical Weaponry of Japan: Special Weapons and Tactics of the Martial Arts. Kodansha International. pp. 81–87. ISBN 978-4-7700-2941-6.