The Amazing History of Throwing Stars

Throwing stars also known as Shurikens are said to be the invention of the people of Japan’s most witty and clever civilization - The Ninjas. Mostly, what is generally famous about the origin of a famous item is wrong because of the false and misguided stores that are made popular by people. However, when it comes to throwing stars, whatever is said about their origin is true. Throwing stars are indeed the invention of the Ninjas. Even the meaning of the word “Shuriken” means a throwing blade as its breakdown is like “shu” which means hand, “ri” which means release and “ken” which means blade. So, a Shuriken means a blade which is hidden in hand and released from there. Also, basically and originally, there were two main types of a Shuriken.

The Basic Types of the Original Shuriken

1- Bo Shuriken

Bo shuriken is like a straight spike and has pointed ends on both sides of it. Bo shurikens look like needles or you can say knives having broad blades. Originally, they were made out of flat bars of steel having its both ends sharpened to sharp points.

2- Hira Shuriken

Hira shuriken has the design that goes back to the original design of the shuriken. A hira shuriken, unlike a Bo shuriken, was like a plate of metal. So, a high shuriken was made out of a flat piece of steel and has points or blades protruding out of it. These blades varied from three to eight in number.

Other Variations of Throwing Stars

There are many variations of Ninja throwing stars that go back to the early times i.e. to the time when Ninjas used to live in Japan. It is believed that a Shuriken named “Senban” was also used by the Ninjas.

1- The Senban Shuriken

It was a four bladed shuriken and was made out of iron. It was constructed and designed by hammering and heating the iron at high temperature. The sharp blades pierced through the body of the victim and would kill that person. However, the Ninjas used the throwing stars mostly to escape their enemies, divert their attention or to evade them. The Senban shuriken was also used for fighting in close quarter combats.

2- The Happo Shuriken

Another famous type of shuriken used by the Ninjas was the Happo shuriken and was used as a weapon to be used in combats. It had a wheel like the design and had eight spikes coming out of it. The Ninjas used the Happo shuriken for wounding the enemy or irritating them. However, the chances of actually killing the enemy were very less because the blades of this shuriken were too shallow to penetrate deeper into the victim’s body. However, it was very effective for diverting the enemy and take him by surprise.

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