| Types of war fan | | | | by Shingen's war fan. It is not clear whether Shingen |
| Gunsen (?) were folding fans used by the average | | | | parried with a tessen, a dansen uchiwa, or some other |
| warriors to cool themselves off. They were made of | | | | form of fan. Nevertheless, it was quite rare for |
| bronze, brass or a similar metal for the inner spokes, | | | | commanders to fight directly, and especially for a |
| and often used iron for the outer spokes, making them | | | | general to defend himself so effectively when taken |
| lightweight but strong. Warriors would hang their fans | | | | so off-guard. |
| from a variety of places, most typically from the belt | | | | Minamoto no Yoshitsune is said to have defeated the |
| or the breastplate, though the latter often impeded the | | | | great warrior monk Sait Musashib Benkei with a |
| use of a sword or a bow. | | | | tessen. |
| Saihai (?) were tasseled signalling fans which would be | | | | Araki Murashige is said to have used a tessen to save |
| used by a commander to signal troop movements. | | | | his life when the great warlord Oda Nobunaga sought |
| Tessen (?) were folding fans with outer spokes made | | | | to assassinate him. Araki was invited before |
| of iron which were designed to look like normal, | | | | Nobunaga, and was stripped of his swords at the |
| harmless folding fans or solid clubs shaped to look like | | | | entrance to the mansion, as was customary. When he |
| a closed fan. Samurai could take these to places | | | | performed the customary bowing at the threshold, |
| where swords or other overt weapons were not | | | | Nobunaga intended to have the room's sliding doors |
| allowed, and some swordsmanship schools included | | | | slammed shut onto Araki's neck, killing him. However, |
| training in the use of the tessen as a weapon. The | | | | Araki supposedly placed his tessen in the grooves in |
| tessen was also used for fending off arrows and | | | | the floor, blocking the doors from closing. |
| darts, as a throwing weapon, and as an aid in | | | | The Yagy clan, sword instructors to the Tokugawa |
| swimming. | | | | shoguns, included tessenjutsu in their swordschool, the |
| Uchiwa (?) were large iron fans, sometimes built on a | | | | Yagy Shinkage-ry. |
| wooden core, which were carried by high-ranking | | | | War fans outside Japan |
| officers. They were used to ward off arrows, as a | | | | Fans are also used for offensive and defensive |
| sunshade, and to signal to troops. | | | | purposes in the Chinese and Korean martial arts. They |
| War fans in history and folklore | | | | are called "" (ti shn, literally "steel fan") in Chinese, and "" |
| One particularly famous legend involving war fans | | | | (buchae) in Korean. |
| concerns a direct confrontation between Takeda | | | | See also |
| Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin at the fourth battle of | | | | Tessenjutsu |
| Kawanakajima in 1561. Kenshin burst into Shingen's | | | | References |
| command tent on horseback, having broken through | | | | Ratti, Oscar and Adele Westbrook (1973). Secrets of |
| his entire army, and attacked; his sword was deflected | | | | the Samurai. Edison, NJ: Castle Books. |