Sickle - Kama

Japanese: 鎌 - かま

A farm tool used to harvest grains and brushwood. With the beginning of agriculture to harvest large amounts of grain, the sickle was invented and has been improved as an indispensable tool for mankind. Even today, most of the world's cultivated areas for grain are harvested using sickles. In Japan, more than 95% of the cultivated areas for rice and wheat are harvested with binders or combines, but sickles are used for cutting miscellaneous grains such as soybeans and rapeseed, and for cutting grass.

[Haruo Ezaki]

kinds

There are three types of sickles: the sickle, which can be used with one hand; the scythe, which can cut a large area; and the cradle, which has a frame attached to the top of the scythe blade so that grain can be collected while cutting.

Japanese sickles are broadly divided into bladed sickles and saw-toothed sickles. Bladed sickles come in a variety of types, from thin to thick, depending on the purpose. Thin sickles are widely used for harvesting rice and wheat and for mowing grass, medium-thick sickles are used for cutting grass, and thick sickles are used for clearing tree branches and cutting shrubs. Saw-toothed sickles, which have a sawtooth blade, are often made by pressing, are lightweight and easy to handle, and are widely used for harvesting rice and wheat.

The distribution of hagama is relatively regional. In the region west of the Chubu and Kinki regions, thin-edged double-edged sickles were popular. These sickles have a wedge-shaped blade with the tip sharpened on both sides, and are known as Iga-gata sickles. In the eastern region, wide-edged single-edged sickles were used. These sickles have a flat underside and a sloping tip on the front, and are commonly known as Shinshu sickles.

For a hag sickle, the angle between the wooden handle and the cutting edge is around 100 degrees, making it slightly right-angled. For a saw-sickle, this angle is around 150 degrees. Thus, one of the characteristics of Japanese sickles is that the angle between the wooden handle and the cutting edge is less than 180 degrees, while for Western sickles it is more than 180 degrees. This stems from the fact that the hand movements required when reaping with a Japanese sickle are completely different from those required with a Western sickle. In America, sickles shaped like the Japanese sickle are called angular sickles, while sickles shaped like the Western sickle are called balanced sickles to distinguish between the two.

Harvesting rice with a sickle generally requires a bent-over position, with 10 to 15 rice stalks cut one by one with one hand, and takes 4 to 8 hours to harvest 10 ares. The cut rice is then tied into small bundles, and 5 to 10 hours are required to tie the bundles into around 1,500 bundles per 10 ares. Harvesting and tying 10 ares of rice takes at least one day for a team of two people.

[Haruo Ezaki]

history

Western

Sickles are thought to have been used since the time when humans ate grains regularly, and the oldest one discovered to date is said to be a straight-edged sickle made from flint that was used in Egypt and Babylonia between 4000 and 3000 BC. Sickles with curved blades and sawtoothed edges made from animal bones and horns, as well as sickles made from bricks, were also used in the Mesopotamian region. By 2000 BC, sawtooth sickles made from copper alloys had spread to each colony, and between 2000 and 1000 BC, iron sickles made in Rome spread to each colony. The shape of the sickle became similar to that of modern Western sickles, and both smooth and saw-edged blades were used. Around 900, scythes were used to cut grass, and by 1830, press-made scythes were being sold in large quantities in America. In the 13th century, cradles, which were scythes with culm-collecting rods attached, began to be used in England, and by 1600 they had become widely used in America.

[Haruo Ezaki]

China and Japan

In China, stone sickles appeared in the Longshan culture of the late Neolithic period, copper sickles in the Yin dynasty, and iron sickles during the Warring States period, exerting a widespread influence on the agricultural culture of East Asia. Claw sickles used to cut the heads of grain appeared as hammered or polished stone or shell knives in China's Yangshao and Longshan cultures, and stone knives in particular were used on the Korean peninsula and in Japan's Yayoi culture. The iron millet pick used to pluck foxtail millet and sorghum in northern China, and the shell-made ichasei used by the Ainu to pluck barnyard millet, are thought to be remnants of this. Claw sickles with iron blades attached to a sheath handle are widely distributed in Southeast Asia and are used to cut the heads of rice.

The stone knives of the Yayoi period disappeared with the spread of iron sickles, but the harvesting method of cutting the heads of rice remained in some places until the end of ancient times under the name of ei-to (glaze rice). Sickles at that time had a bent base to attach to a handle, and the angle between the handle and the blade was obtuse, but in the Kamakura period, bladed sickles similar to those used today, with an angle close to a right angle, were also used. In the Edo period, saw-sickles were developed in the Hokuriku and Kinai regions to harvest rice and wheat, and the two-handed sickles used in the Edo area were the grass-cutting scythe, and in the Hokuriku region, the kabuwari sickle, used to split old rice stubble, were used. Types of sickles also diversified, including thin-bladed grass-cutting sickles, thick-bladed tree-cutting sickles, hatchet sickles, and mulberry-cutting sickles.

Sickles were supplied by local blacksmiths in each region, but in the Edo period, famous sickle blacksmiths such as those in Sanshu Yoshida (Toyohashi City) and Ise sickle blacksmiths in Futami Imaishiki (Futami Town, Ise City, Mie Prefecture) appeared and special production areas were formed. Sickles such as those in Echigo Sanjo, Echizen sickles, Shinshu sickles, and Banshu sickles developed in the late Edo period, producing products for other countries and expanding their trade areas through market sales and peddling. The "Sickle Shape Book" of a Sanjo sickle merchant lists hundreds of types of sickle depending on the region.

[Tadashi Kinoshita]

Folklore

The sickle is a tool that symbolizes the harvest. After the rice harvest, there are customs in various regions to celebrate by washing and decorating sickles and making offerings to them, known as "kama-age," "kama-tsuka-arai," and "kama-iwai."

Sickles have been believed to have magical powers. At Suwa Taisha Shrine in Nagano Prefecture, where the wind goddess was located in ancient times, sickles were used as sacred offerings and placed on portable shrines (mikoshi) with the intention of calming the wind. In Nagano, Yamanashi, Gunma, and other prefectures, it is said that if a sickle is tied to the end of a pole with the blade facing the wind during a strong wind, the wind god will be frightened and the wind will calm down, and the custom of using sickles to cut through the wind is widespread throughout the country. The belief that placing or hanging a sickle on a buried grave will ward off evil and wild beasts is widespread in eastern Japan from the Kinki region onwards.

[Tadashi Kinoshita]

Names of parts of the sickle
©Shogakukan ">

Names of parts of the sickle

Main types of Western sickles
© Yoshiyasu Tanaka

Main types of Western sickles

Main types of Japanese sickles
© Yoshiyasu Tanaka

Main types of Japanese sickles

A scythe for cutting grass, as described in "Nogu Benri-ron"
A scythe for cutting grass (top right) used in the Edo area and its usage (bottom). From "Nogu Benri-ron" (Convenient Agricultural Tools), Volume 2, by Okura Nagatsune, held at the National Diet Library .

A scythe for cutting grass, as described in "Nogu Benri-ron"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

穀物や柴草(しばくさ)の刈取りに用いられる農具。穀物を多量に収穫する農業が始まるとともに、鎌は人類になくてはならない道具として発明され、改良が加えられてきた。現在でも世界の穀物栽培面積の大部分は、鎌を用いて収穫を行っている。日本ではイネやムギの栽培面積の95％以上がバインダーやコンバインで収穫されているが、ダイズやナタネなどの雑穀類や草刈りには小鎌が使用されている。

［江崎春雄］

種類

西洋鎌には、片手で作業ができる小鎌（シックルsickle）と、大面積が刈り取れる大鎌（サイズscythe）と、大鎌の刃の上部に枠を取り付けて穀物を集めながら刈取りが行えるクレイドルcradle大鎌の3種がある。

　日本鎌は、刃鎌と鋸鎌(のこぎりがま)に大別される。刃鎌には、用途によって、刃部の薄いものから厚いものまである。イネやムギの刈取りや草刈りには薄鎌が広く利用され、芝草刈りには中厚鎌、木の枝払いや灌木(かんぼく)を切るためには厚鎌が用いられる。鎌の刃に鋸目をつけた鋸鎌はプレスして製作されるものが多く、軽量で取り扱いやすく、イネやムギの刈取りに広く利用される。

　刃鎌の分布には比較的地方色がある。中部、近畿地方を境にして西の地方では、細刃の両刃鎌が普及した。これは鎌の刃先を表裏両面から研磨する楔(くさび)形の刃をもった鎌で、伊賀形といわれる。東の地方では広刃の片刃鎌が用いられた。これは裏面が平らで、表面に傾斜をもった刃先の鎌で、信州鎌と通称される。

　刃鎌は木柄と刃先線とのなす角が100度前後でやや直角になっている。鋸鎌はこの角が150度前後になっている。このように日本の鎌は木柄と刃先線とのなす角が180度以下であることが特徴の一つで、西洋の小鎌は180度以上である。これは日本鎌と西洋鎌では刈り取るときの手の運動がまったく異なることに由来している。アメリカでは日本鎌のような形の鎌をangular sickle、西洋鎌のような形の鎌をbalanced sickleと称して区別している。

　小鎌を用いたイネの刈取り作業は、腰を曲げた姿勢で、イネ株10～15株を1束にして片手刈りするのが一般的であり、10アール刈るのに4～8時間を要する。また、刈ったものは小束に結束するが、10アール当り1500束内外に結束するのに5～10時間が必要である。10アールのイネの刈取り、結束をする作業は、2人1組で早くて1日仕事である。

［江崎春雄］

歴史

西洋

鎌は人類が穀物を常食とした時代から使用されていたものと考えられ、現在発見されているもっとも古いものは、紀元前4000～前3000年にエジプト、バビロニアで用いられていた火打石でつくった直刃鎌であろうといわれている。動物の骨や角(つの)でつくった鋸目の入った曲線刃鎌やれんが製の鎌もメソポタミア地方で用いられた。前2000年になると銅合金の鋸鎌、前2000～前1000年ごろには、ローマでつくられた鉄製の鎌が各植民地に普及し、鎌の形状も現在の西洋小鎌と大差ないものとなり、平滑刃も鋸刃も使用された。900年ごろには大鎌が草刈り用として用いられ、1830年ごろにはアメリカでプレス生産の大鎌が大量に販売された。13世紀には大鎌に集稈(しゅうかん)棒を取り付けたクレイドルがイギリスで用いられ始め、1600年ごろにはアメリカで広く普及した。

［江崎春雄］

中国・日本

中国では、新石器時代後期の竜山(りゅうざん)文化に石鎌が現れ、殷(いん)代に銅鎌、戦国時代に鉄鎌が出現し、広く東アジアの農耕文化に影響を及ぼした。穀物の穂首(ほくび)刈りをする爪(つめ)鎌は、中国の仰韶(ぎょうしょう)文化、竜山文化に打製・磨製の石包丁や貝包丁として現れ、とくに石包丁は朝鮮半島や日本の弥生(やよい)文化に用いられた。中国北部でアワやコウリャンの穂を摘む粟鋻(ぞくけん)（鉄製）や、アイヌがヒエを摘む貝製のイチャセイはその残存とみられる。別に東南アジアには、鞘柄(さやえ)に鉄の刃をはめた爪鎌が広く分布し、イネの穂首刈りに使用されている。

　弥生時代の石包丁は、鉄鎌の普及につれて消失したが、イネの穂首を刈る収穫法は、古代末期まで穎稲(えいとう)の名で一部に残存した。当時の鎌は柄に取り付けるために基部を折り曲げ、柄と刃との角度は鈍角であったが、鎌倉時代には角度が直角に近い今日同様な形の刃鎌も使用された。江戸時代になると、北陸や畿内(きない)では、イネやムギを刈り取るのに鋸鎌(のこぎりがま)が発達し、両手使いの鎌としては、江戸近辺で草刈大鎌が、北陸で古稲株を割る株割鎌が用いられた。また、薄刃の草刈鎌、厚刃の木刈鎌、鉈鎌(なたがま)、桑切鎌など種類も多様化した。

　鎌は土地土地の野鍛冶(のかじ)によって供給されていたが、江戸時代には、三州吉田（豊橋(とよはし)市）の鎌鍛冶、二見今一色(ふたみいまいしき)（三重県伊勢市二見町）の伊勢(いせ)鎌鍛冶などのように著名な鎌鍛冶が出現し、特産地が形成される。越後(えちご)三条の鎌、越前(えちぜん)鎌、信州鎌、播州(ばんしゅう)鎌などは、江戸後期以来発達し、他国向けの製品をつくり、市(いち)売りや行商によって商圏を広めていった。三条の鎌商人の「鎌形帳」には、土地に応じた数百種の鎌の型が記されている。

［木下　忠］

民俗

鎌は収穫を象徴する用具である。稲の収穫が済んだあと、「鎌あげ」「鎌づか洗い」「鎌祝い」などといって、鎌を洗って飾り鎌に供え物をして祝う習俗は各地にみられる。

　鎌は呪力(じゅりょく)をもつと信じられてきた。古代に風の祝(はふり)が置かれた長野県諏訪(すわ)大社では、鎌を神幣とし、風鎮めの意を込めて鎌を神輿(みこし)に立てた。長野県や山梨県、群馬県などでは、大風のとき、竿(さお)の先に鎌を縛り、風の方向に刃を向けて立てると、風の神が恐れ、風が鎮まるといわれているが、鎌を風切りに用いる習俗は全国に広く分布している。埋葬した墓の上に鎌を立てたり、つるしたりすると、魔除(まよ)け、野獣除けになるという信仰は近畿地方以東の東日本に広がっている。

［木下　忠］

鎌の各部名称

西洋鎌のおもな種類

日本鎌のおもな種類

『農具便利論』に記された草刈大鎌
江戸近辺で用いられた刈草大鎌（右上）とその使用法（下）。『農具便利論』　巻中　大蔵永常著国立国会図書館所蔵">

『農具便利論』に記された草刈大鎌

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