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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.
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 ...
As of 2008, only 100,000 swords remain in Japan. It is estimated that 250,000–350,000 sword have been brought to other nations as souvenirs, art pieces or for Museum purposes. 70% of daito (long swords), formerly owned by Japanese officers, have been exported or brought to the United States. [95]
According to legend, the smith Amakuni forged the first single-edged long swords with curvature around 700. [43] Even though there is no authentication of this event or date, the earliest Japanese swords were probably forged in Yamato Province. [44] During the Nara period, many good smiths were located around the capital in Nara.
A tachi is a type of sabre-like traditionally made Japanese sword worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Tachi and uchigatana generally differ in length, degree of curvature, and how they were worn when sheathed, the latter depending on the location of the mei (銘), or signature, on the tang.
These ancient Japanese swords are also known as jokotō (上古刀, ancient sword). [8] chōken (長剣, long sword) – Commonly used as a calque for the broadest definition of (European) long swords. chōtō (長刀, lit. long sword) – either a nagakatana (due to long blade) or a naginata (due to long handle). [9]
[1] [2] Naginata were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru (foot soldiers) and sōhei (warrior monks). [3] The naginata is the iconic weapon of the onna-musha, a type of female warrior belonging to the Japanese nobility. A common misconception is that the Naginata is a type of sword, rather than a polearm.
The sword was forged in the 10-12th centuries by the swordsmith Hōki-no-Kuni Yasutsuna (伯耆国安綱). Dōjigiri (童子切, "Slayer of Shuten-dōji") is a tachi-type Japanese sword that has been identified as a National Treasure of Japan. [1] This sword is one of the "Five Swords Under Heaven" (天下五剣 Tenka-Goken).