Long before steel blades and lacquered armor, the simplest weapon of humankind was the stone. In Ancient Japan, villagers and hunters relied on the hand-sling — woven from hemp, silk cord, or leather — to protect crops, frighten animals.

And hunt small birds. The term toseki (投石) means “to throw stones,” and from this grew tosekigi jutsu, the technique of stone-throwing. It was not a noble weapon, but one born from necessity.