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To qualify as an ōdachi, the sword in question would have a blade length of around 3 shaku (90.9 cm (35.8 in)). However, as with most terms in Japanese sword arts, there is no exact definition of the size of an ōdachi.
Ōdachi/Nodachi (大太刀 ... blade 60–80 cm (24–31 in) – for ... knife or dagger of varying sizes typical of the Germanic peoples of the ...
Enormous tachi called seoi-tachi (shouldering swords), nodachi (field swords) and ōdachi with blades 120–150 cm (47–59 in) long were forged. [ nb 3 ] [ 31 ] The high demand for swords during feudal civil wars after 1467 ( Sengoku period ) resulted in mass production and low quality swords as swordsmiths no longer refined their own steel ...
A blade longer than one shaku but less than two is considered a shōtō (short sword). The wakizashi and kodachi are in this category. The length is measured in a straight line across the back of the blade from tip to munemachi (where blade meets tang). Most blades that fall into the "shōtō" size range are wakizashi.
The longest tachi (considered a 15th-century ōdachi) in existence is 3.7 metres (12 ft) in total length with a 2.2 metres (7 ft 3 in) blade, but is believed to be ceremonial. In the late 1500s and early 1600s, many tachi blades were modified into katana, their cut tangs (o-suriage) removing the smiths' signatures from the swords. [41]
The name came from a legend that one night flaws on the blade were repaired by fireflies. [4] [5] The ōdachi is also known as Aso no Hotarumaru (阿蘇の蛍丸) since it was kept as a treasure of the Aso Shrine. [6] The ōdachi was designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan (then-National Treasure) on December 14, 1931. [3]
tō (刀) – single-edged blades (saber/knife) of any size or shape. tobiyaki (飛焼) – a tempered spot within the ji not connected to the main temper line (hamon). [53] tōken (刀剣) – umbrella term for all single- and double-edged blades of any size and shape.
The nagamaki was a long sword with a blade that could be 60 cm (24 in) or more and a handle of about equal length to the blade. [3] The blade was single-edged, resembling a naginata blade, but the handle (tsuka) of the nagamaki was not a smooth-surfaced wooden shaft as in the naginata; it was made more like a katana hilt.