The is one of three legendary Japanese spears created by the famed swordsmith Fujiwara Masazane, said to be wielded by the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

Honda Tadakatsu , also called Honda Heihachirō (本多平八郎) was a Japanese samurai, general and daimyo of the late Sengoku through early Edo periods, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu. Honda Tadakatsu was one of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings along with Ii ...

, a leading general of

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

. The spear derives its name from the myth that a

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

landed on its blade and was instantly cut in two. Thus ''tonbo'' (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

for "dragonfly") and ''kiri'' (Japanese for "cutting"), translating this spear's name as "Dragonfly Cutter". The weapon, along with Nihongō and Otegine, is listed as one of "three great spears" in the ''Kyōhō Meibutsucho'', a listing of famous Koto blades made before the Nanbokucho period and compiled by the Hon'ami family during the Kyōhō era (1716–1735). The Tonbokiri is owned by a private individual and is on loan to the Sano Art Museum for its collection.Three Great Spears of Japan.
The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum “Nagoya Touken World”

References

Spears of Japan Individual weapons {{Polearm-stub