Shakuhachi.
One of the strangest types of samurai weapons were shakuhachi – bamboo flutes. Initially it was just musical instruments that were played by Buddhist monks. That all changed when a group of Buddhists by name komuso started walking with baskets on their heads, playing the flute, and preaching.
Samurais decided that these people with baskets on their heads were a perfect disguise. Samurai spies, which were sent to suppress the rebellion, looked like komuso. At the same time the flute samurai had thorns, and they could use them as a self-defense weapon.
