Metsubushi

Metsubushi (目潰し^?) (gantsubushi)^[1]- "eye closers", the name for variety of implements and techniques used by samurai police and other individuals to temporarily or permanently blind or disorient an opponent in feudal Japan.

Description

One type of metsubushi used by police for blowing powdered pepper or dust into the eyes of a suspect. It is described as being a lacquer or brass box with a wide mouthpiece for blowing on, and a hole or pipe on the other end for directing the powder into the eyes of the person being captured.^[2] One type of metsubushi was a powder made up of ashes, ground-up pepper, mud, flour, and dirt. For severe damage, it could also include fine-ground glass. It was kept in hollowed-out eggs (happō), bamboo tubes or other small containers. When confronted by an attacker, a person would throw the metsubushi in the attacker's eyes, blinding him, while the victim ran off or hid himself.^[3] This practice is thought to have brought about tales of ninja disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Other metsubushi techniques included blinding the opponent with light reflected off a mirror or throwing any item at an opponent's head, making him instinctively close his eyes.

Flash and smoke bombs would also count as more modern metsubushi.

On Spike TV's Deadliest Warrior, happō filled with crushed glass or concentrated liquid made from chili peppers was featured as one of the ninja's weapons in "Episode 3: Spartan vs. Ninja". It was called a "Black Egg" in the show.

References

1. ^ Secrets of the samurai: a survey of the martial arts of feudal Japan, Oscar Ratti, Adele Westbrook, Tuttle Publishing, 1991 P.323
2. ^ Secrets of the samurai: a survey of the martial arts of feudal Japan, Oscar Ratti, Adele Westbrook, Tuttle Publishing, 1991 P.323
3. ^ Caldwell, Darryl (June 1985). "The Shadow Warrior: The Ninja Web". Black Belt (St. Louis, MO: Rainbow Publications Inc.) 23 (6): 15. ISSN 0277-3066. 

External links

• Deadliest Warrior: Spartan v. Ninja

• Ninja smoke bomb