Learn about the Yarri Kanna, a traditional Japanese spear-shaped plane hand tool still used today in architecture.
Considered part of the kanna family, the Yari Ganna, or Yari Kanna, is one of the oldest style planes still available. Thought to have been the only plane employed in ancient times to pare and finish timber, the Yari Kanna is shaped like a spear called yari used by soldiers in battle in ancient times.
The plane has a long, narrow, leaf-shape blade attached to the end of a handle, rather like a large chisel. Today, Japanese carpenters do not use this plane for ordinary building work, but it is sometimes used to meet special requirements in temple and shrine architecture.
