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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]
Between 1 and 2 shaku for shōtō (小刀:しょうとう) (wakizashi or kodachi). Greater than 2 shaku for daitō (大刀) (long sword, such as katana or tachi). A blade shorter than one shaku is considered a tantō (knife). A blade longer than one shaku but less than two is considered a shōtō (short sword).
In general, katana has a cross-sectional shape of shinogizukuri, similar to tachi, but it is shorter than tachi and its blade curve is gentle. Wakizashi and tantō are shorter swords than tachi and katana, and these swords are often forged in the cross-sectional shape of hira-zukuri or kiriha-zukuri. [27]
A katana (刀, かたな, lit. 'one-sided blade') is a Japanese sabre characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the tachi , it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge facing upward.
The Musashi Masamune is a tachi, measuring 74 cm (2 korai-shaku, 1 sun, 4.2 bun) and noted to have nearly all of the characteristics of Masamune's signature features; though it is debated that its o-kissaki is not that of his style, it is compared to blades made in his later career, which shows the transition of the Kamakura styles into the ...
nagakatana (長刀, lit. long sword) – any sword with a blade longer than a tantō, particularly exceptionally large ones (e.g. nodachi). Also called chōtō. nagamaki (長巻, "long wrapping") – a large sword with a usually katana-sized blade and a very long handle of about equal length.
The wakizashi has a blade between 30 and 60 cm (12 and 24 in) in length. [1] Wakizashi close to the length of a katana are called ō-wakizashi and wakizashi closer to tantō length are called ko-wakizashi. [1] Wakizashi are not necessarily just a smaller version of the katana; they could be forged differently and have a different cross-section. [5]
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 ...