Japanese Swords

Hi all,
I understand there are three main types of swords:

Long Sword (Daito): over 2 shaku in length; there are the longer of
the two swords commonly worn by the samurai; difficult to temper a
daito because of its length.

Medium Sword (Wakizashi): 1~2 shaku in length; worn by samurai as
auxiliary sword, or by non-samurai, who were allowed to wear no more
than one sword of this length.

Short Sword (Tanto): less than 1 shaku in length; the shorter of the
two swords worn by the samurai as auxiliary swords. Women and
tradesmen used them as protective weapons. Commonly called as hara-
kiri knives. They are usually the hira-zukuri (without ridgeline)
types.

Was just wondering if anyone can elaberate on the names, styes and
types of these swords used between the Muromachi period and the Edo
period.

Zevlord wrote :
"Was just wondering if anyone can elaberate on the names, styles and
types of these swords used between the Muromachi period and the Edo"

Almost all. Especially the Edo period shows a drop in the quality but
the styles and types are all represented, more or less frequently,
following fashions and law restrictions. Nodachi, Nagamaki, Ken are
probably the less copied, but even them were produced. A few in
Kirihazukuri and in Kogarasuzukuri too, both in katana and wakizashi
length. Think that donation to Shrines were common in peacetime too.
Naturally the term "used" is quite inadequate to the Edo period swords.
Muromachi saw more practical blades and mountings.

The short answer is "Yes",
there is alot more to it though, many better writers have covered
this. I suggest you visit the sword index and look under glossaries and
READ the section on Sugata; changes in the shape if nihonto. There are
endless links there to follow as well. The Muromachi period encompasses
some tremendous changes, I am sure you'll get a handle on it by
visiting here;

http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm

-t

zevlord,

There is also the no-daito (no-dachi) which is around 3 shaku or longer.
It was used primarily as a cavalry sword though there are instances that I
have heard of where it was used on foot. Though I am sure that they were
extreme cases since weilding 3+ shaku katana is a muchly different
experience than the more typical 2.0 - 2.5 shaku katana.
As a matter of general court procedures during the Edo (Tokugawa) period
the daito was removed when entering someone elses house and the visitor was
left with the shoto (wakizashi) and their tanto.
There are two other "blades" that are often overlooked as being part of
the common accoutrements of the samurai, the kogai and the kozuka. The
kogai is, for the most part, the stick that you often see in the topknot of
the Edo period men. It is adorned with the kamon of the carrier and,
according to what I have been told by my Iaido sensei, it was used to mark a
slain opponent by sticking it into their Achilles' tendon. Also, if the tip
had enough of an edge, it could be used as a shuriken since the original
shuriken were merely short knives, not throwing stars.
The kozuka is basically a 3 or 4 inch blade that was stored in the saya
(sheath) and could be pulled out through the tsuba (hand guard). This knife
was often used as a utility knife for cutting rope, fruit, etc. Though in
the hands of a skilled samurai it could be used as a close quarters weapon
or as a shuriken.
Hopefully this has helped in some way. If anyone knows something that I
have mis-stated please do correct me. I do not yet have the wealth of
knowledge that some on this list have.


Peace,

Matt

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