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Concept
Japanese sword
Summary
A Japanese sword is one of several types of traditionally made swords from Japan. Bronze swords were made as early as the Yayoi period (1000 BC – 300 AD), though most people generally refer to the curved blades made from the Heian period (794 – 1185) to the present day when speaking of "Japanese swords". There are many types of Japanese swords that differ by size, shape, field of application and method of manufacture. Some of the more commonly known types of Japanese swords are the uchigatana, tachi, odachi, wakizashi, and tantō.
In modern times the most commonly known type of Japanese sword is the Shinogi-Zukuri katana, which is a single-edged and usually curved longsword traditionally worn by samurai from the 15th century onwards. Western historians have said that Japanese katana were among the finest cutting weapons in world military history, for their intended use.
Other types of Japanese swords include: tsurugi or , which is a double-edged sword; ōdachi, tachi, which are older styles of a very long single-edged sword; wakizashi, a medium-sized sword; and tantō, which is an even smaller knife-sized sword. Naginata and yari, despite being polearms, are still considered to be swords, which is a common misconception; naginata, yari and even odachi are in reality not swords.
The type classifications for Japanese swords indicate the combination of a blade and its mounts as this, then, determines the style of use of the blade. An unsigned and shortened blade that was once made and intended for use as a tachi may be alternately mounted in tachi koshirae and katana koshirae. It is properly distinguished, then, by the style of mount it currently inhabits. A long tanto may be classified as a wakizashi due to its length being over 30 cm, however it may have originally been mounted and used as a tanto making the length distinction somewhat arbitrary but necessary when referring to unmounted short blades.
Official source
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