Is this a Gunbai? And what is it used for? I read somewhere that it’s either for sumo wrestling or carried by samurai?

3 comments

1. [removed]

2. The gyoji (ref) carries them. The indicate when to start the match, the winner, and place prize envelopes on top of them. Pretty cool you found one!!

3. it’s definitely a gunbai in modern days used by sumo referrers, I believe a Japanese idiom raise a gunbai(軍配を上げる) meaning to declare a winner comes from their practice, also in the past used by samurai leaders to command their troops in a battle field. incidentally 天下泰平 means world peace.