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Edo period Antique Japanese wakizashi sword blade showing the horimono, of a chrysanthemum. Horimono (彫り物, 彫物, literally carving, engraving), also known as chōkoku (彫刻, "sculpture"), are the engraved images in the blade of a nihonto (日本刀) Japanese sword, which may include katana or tantō blades. [1]
Other types of Japanese swords include: tsurugi or ken, which is a straight double-edged sword; [19] ōdachi, tachi, which are older styles of a very long curved single-edged sword; uchigatana, a slightly shorter curved single-edged long sword; wakizashi, a medium-sized sword; and tantō, which is an even smaller knife-sized sword.
Diagram showing the parts of a nihontō blade in transliterated Japanese. This is the glossary of Japanese swords, including major terms the casual reader might find useful in understanding articles on Japanese swords. Within definitions, words set in boldface are defined elsewhere in the glossary.
Archaeological excavations dated the oldest sword in Japan from at least as early as second century B.C. [2]: 4 The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and the Nihon Shoki (History of Japan), ancient texts on early Japanese history and myth that were compiled in the eighth century A.D., describe iron swords and swordsmanship that pre-date recorded history, attributed to the mythological age of ...
The 30 cm to 60 cm (11.8 inches to 23.6 inches) naginata blade is forged in the same manner as traditional Japanese swords. The blade has a long tang ( nakago ) which is inserted in the shaft . The blade is removable and is secured by means of a wooden peg called mekugi (目釘) that passes through a hole ( mekugi-ana ) in both the tang and the ...
The daishō (大小, daishō) —"large and small" [1] —is a Japanese term for a matched pair of traditionally made Japanese swords worn by the samurai class in feudal Japan. The etymology of the word daishō becomes apparent when the terms daitō, meaning long sword, and shōtō, meaning short sword, are used; daitō + shōtō = daishō. [2]
Muramasa (村正, born before 1501), commonly known as Sengo Muramasa (千子村正), was a famous swordsmith who founded the Muramasa school and lived during the Muromachi period (14th to 16th centuries) in Kuwana, Ise Province, Japan (current Kuwana, Mie).
The dachi here (太刀) is simply the voiced compounding version of the term tachi (太刀, great sword), the older style of sword that predates the katana. The second character in tachi, 刀, is the Chinese character for "blade" (see also dāo), and is also the same character used to spell katana (刀) and the tō in nihontō (日本刀 ...