Shield

Japanese: 盾 - たて

A defensive tool used to protect oneself from enemy attacks. Also written as 'tate'. While offensive tools such as clubs, spears, and bows and arrows are also used for hunting and other food gathering, shields are mostly used in human combat, which is a major difference. Shields have been made from a variety of materials, including wood, bark, animal hides, woven bamboo and rattan, metal, and cloth, and have been used by peoples around the world. Shields also come in a variety of shapes, from rod-shaped to round, oval, and square. The size of the shield also varies depending on whether it is used to protect only a part of the body or the whole body, whether it is for personal or collective use, and whether it is held in the hand (mochitate, tedate, or tedate) or placed on the ground. However, there are limitations on the size of a shield depending on the material and shape, and the weight limit becomes a major problem when a shield is used while moving. In addition, a shield requires at least one hand to be held, and while there is little problem when used with a one-handed attacking tool such as a club or spear, it is difficult to use a shield when using a bow and arrow, which requires two hands. Therefore, in such cases, a shield that is attached to the body is often used instead of a hand-held type. This type of shield can be developed into armor. Pitt Rivers of England, who first conducted systematic research on shields, argued from an evolutionary standpoint that the origin of the shield was a stick, which gradually became plate-like, and then further developed into an oval and cocoon-like shape. Montandon of France also divided shields into three types: stick shields, shoulder shields, and normal shields, and further classified normal shields into plant-made, animal-made, and Asian-style. However, such research is not given much importance today. Rather, research is being conducted to consider the symbolic meaning of shields and their patterns, focusing on the fact that shields are often painted with patterns that are said to have the power to protect the wielder from danger or patterns that are meant to frighten the opponent.

[Hiroyuki Kurita]

Japan

A rectangular board made of wood, iron, leather, etc., it was used as a military tool to protect against arrows and stones. It was also used as a dignified tool when set up in front of shrines or at ceremonies. The front is painted or decorated with patterns, and the back has a support for standing it up and a handle for holding it in the hand. There are also makeshift shields such as kaidate, which are made by tying a makeshift board to a crossbeam, and jodate and tatamidate, which are made by connecting many shields together.

The Kojiki and Nihon shoki also mention the production of these shields as ritual vessels in the past, and together with flags and spears, they decorated areas in front of altars and shrines. The Engishiki records leather shields and the name of the Tatenuibe group as a group of makers. A large shield with a vermilion, black, and white spiral pattern, which was erected as a haniwa clay figure in an ancient tomb and is thought to have been used by the Hayato clan who guarded the palace gates during the Nara period, was excavated from the site of Heijo Palace, supporting the existence of white and black shields mentioned in the Nihon Shoki and an account of painting pictures on large shields in the Suiko period.

At Miwa Shrine in Yamato (Nara Prefecture), there is an ancient large iron shield riveted with iron plates. In ancient times, some shields had a mountain or triple-peaked top, but from the Middle Ages onwards, rectangular wooden boards became common, and their need for military camps increased with the popularity of archery. Shields with two lines or family crests written in ink on the front are depicted in the Zenkunen Kassen Emaki (Illustrated Scroll of the Battle of Zenkunen). From the mid-Medieval period, as group battles began to take place, continuous tatami shields and tatami shields appeared, and with the introduction of firearms, shields with gun loops cut into the front to match the crevices of castle walls also appeared. However, as fighting methods and castle-building methods changed, it gradually fell out of use, and in the early modern period, a board shield called a kuruma-date, which was convenient for transport, was invented, but this was later replaced by shields made of bundles of bamboo, which were lighter and more effective as armor against guns, and eventually fell out of use.

[Shinichi Saito]

A shield seen in the "Century War Scroll"
A wooden shield with a family crest inscribed in ink. Copy of "The Nine Years' War Scroll" held at the National Diet Library .

A shield seen in the "Century War Scroll"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

敵の攻撃から身を守るための防御用具。楯とも書く。棍棒(こんぼう)、槍(やり)、弓矢などの攻撃用具が狩猟などの食糧獲得のためにも用いられるのに対し、盾はほとんどの場合、人間同士の戦闘の際に用いられるという点で大きく異なっている。盾の材質としては、木材、樹皮、動物の皮革、竹や籐(とう)などを編んだもの、金属、布などさまざまなものが世界各地の諸民族の間で用いられてきた。また、盾の形状も、棒状のものから、円形、楕円(だえん)形、四角形のものまでさまざまである。盾の大きさも、体の一部分のみを守るためのものか、体全体を守るためのものか、また、個人用のものか、集団用のものか、あるいは、手に持って用いる持盾(もちたて)、手盾(てだて)か、地上に置いて用いる置盾かによって異なっている。しかし、盾の大きさには材質や形状による制限があり、とくに盾を持って移動しながら用いる場合には、その重量上の制限が大きな問題となってくる。また、盾を持つには少なくとも一方の手を用いなければならず、棍棒や槍などの片手で扱う攻撃用具とともに用いる場合にはほとんど問題がないが、両手を用いる弓矢の場合には盾を使用することが困難となる。したがって、そのような場合には、手で持つ形式の盾ではなく、体に取り付ける形式の盾がしばしば用いられる。この形式を発展させれば、甲冑(かっちゅう)となる。盾に関して初めて体系的な研究を行ったイギリスのピット・リバーズは、進化論的立場から、盾の起源を棒に求め、それがしだいに板状となり、さらに楕円状、繭状に発展したと論じた。また、フランスのモンタンドンは、盾を棒盾、肩盾、正常盾の3種類に、さらに正常盾を植物製、動物製、アジア式に分類した。しかし、このような研究は現在ではあまり重視されていない。むしろ、盾には持つ者を危険から守る力をもつとされる模様や、相手を恐れさせるための模様などが描かれることが多いという点に注目して、盾やその模様のもつ象徴的な意味を考察するような研究が進められている。

［栗田博之］

日本

木や鉄、革などでつくった長方形の板で、矢石を防ぐ軍陣の具である。また神前や儀式に立てて威儀の具ともした。表には彩色したり、紋様をつけ、裏には立てるための支柱、手に持って手楯とする場合の取っ手をつけたりする。また応急の、ありあわせの板を横木に結び付けた掻楯(かいだて)、多くの楯を連続させた帖楯(じょうだて)・畳楯(たたみだて)などもある。

　古く祭器としての製作も記紀にみえ、旗・鉾(ほこ)とともに神前・宮前を飾った。『延喜式(えんぎしき)』には革製の楯、また製作者集団として楯縫部(たてぬいべ)の名の記載がある。古墳に埴輪(はにわ)として立てられ、また奈良時代の宮門守護の隼人(はやと)所用と推定される、朱・黒・白の渦巻紋の大楯が、平城宮址(し)より出土し、『日本書紀』にいう白楯・黒楯の存在、推古(すいこ)紀の大楯に絵を描くという記事を裏づけている。

　また大和(やまと)（奈良県）の三輪(みわ)神社には鉄板鋲(びょう)留めの鉄の古代の大楯が伝世する。古代は上辺を山形・三山形としたものもあったが、中世以後は、長方形の木板が一般的となり、弓射戦の盛行とともに軍陣での必要は増した。表に二引両（2条線）や家紋を墨書した形式の楯が、『前九年合戦絵巻』などに描かれている。中世中ごろから集団戦が行われるとともに、連続した帖楯や畳楯が、また鉄砲伝来とともに、銃眼を、城郭の狭間(はざま)状に楯の表に切りあけた楯なども出現する。しかし、戦闘法や築城法の変化とともにしだいに廃れ、近世には、車楯(くるまだて)などという、移動に便利な板楯も考案されたが、より軽便で、鉄砲などに防具として効果的な竹束の楯などに変わっていき、ついにはあまり用いられなくなった。

［齋藤愼一］

『前九年合戦絵巻』にみる盾
家紋を墨書した木板の盾。『前九年合戦絵巻』　写国立国会図書館所蔵">

『前九年合戦絵巻』にみる盾

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