The tanjo of Uchida-ryu tanjojutsu is based on the western style walkingstick. Originally the tanjo was shaped like a walkingstick with the top being thicker than the bottom part, producing a cone-shaped stick which was more akin to how the walkingsticks were designed. The length was about 90 cm but it was normally customized to fit the wielders height.
It is in recent years that the tanjo, as produced today, is marketed as a completely proportionate stick of 90 cm (3 shaku) in length and 2.8 cm (9 bu) in diameter.
The hanbo was not based on the walking stick but was, as I understood it, based on the regular 6 shaku (180 cm) staff cut in two, making a new 3 shaku (90 cm) staff. The hanbo is virtually identical to the modern tanjo with the same length (90 cm), but what seperates the two is their origin.
So technically a hanbo is not a tanjo eventhough they may be identical in appearence, material and size. Not 100% about the traditional hanbo thickness in comparison with modern hanbo, but today the hanbo usually mirrors the tanjo (or vice versa depending on how you see it) in thickness.
Hope that helps.
*edit*
In retrospect I think I should have made this fact more obvious when I wrote the wiki-article. I'll revise it and make it more clear.
Originally Posted by
macbaine
Since this is the Jo forum, and Uchida-Ryu Tanjojutsu is taught in the SMR curriculum, I thought this might be the appropriate arena for this question.
What is the difference between the tanjo and the hanbo?
I have tried to find this answer for myself, by searching e-budo, using google, and even going to wikipedia. Everything I've found makes me think that there isn't a significant difference. The descriptions I've read could be describing either weapon. Somewhere, looking at some information on the tanjo, I read "not to be confused with the hanbo!" Was whoever wrote that messing with me?
Fredrik Hall
"To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous." /Confucius