Japanese Samurai Swords

You have probably heard a lot about the role of the sword in Japanese society and culture. The sword has always symbolized the power of the imperial dynasty, the pride of those who support the Shinto cult, one of the symbols of developing the firmness of the national spirit. Before starting the procedure of producing a truly traditional Japanese sword, a Japanese smith performed a preparatory ritual that may be compared to the ritual fulfilled by a Russian icon painter while he was getting ready for painting the church or creating a precious icon - he kept the past, performed purifying ablution, prolonged praying, putting on ceremonial clothes and celibacy.

Some Facts about the Sword Etiquette

The Japanese have supported the most developed sword etiquette. The same as in other regions, the blade worn at one's belt at the right side or put at the right from its owner implied trustful attitude towards the talker, as from this position it was more difficult to reach the position of readiness. If a warrior was entering a house, he left his sword at a special stand as taking one's sword into the house meant utter disrespect. If for some reason a warrior wanted to give his sword to another person, he held the sword so that the handle pointed at him as the handle turned at another person was a sign of disrespect and underestimate of his fencing skills as a real master could instantly put the sword into action. During the demonstration the sword was never completely drawn and one could touch it only with one's hand covered by a silk kerchief or a piece of paper made out of rice.

Drawing a sword, hitting a scabbard against a scabbard or all the more arms' clanging was directly perceived as a challenge that could be followed by a sudden blow with no warning. The same as by a European tradition, the swords were given names and were inherited by one generation from another. The greatest Japanese armourers sometimes did not stamp their swords as they believed that a sword itself would better tell everyone about the one who made it. If a person was not able to tell apart the craftsmen's work, it meant there was no need for him to know. The word "sword" was often tabooed, and for example the word "wakizashi" literary means "pierced at the side."

Japanese Swords - How to Tell them Apart?

When the word combination "samurai sword" comes to mind, you probably first of all think about katana - a slightly curved Japanese sword with unusually firm and sharp blade. Such the sword was brought to Japan from Korea. That is why if you look through Japanese chronicles of 7th-13th century, the katana sword is mentioned there as "the Korean" one. In Japan such the sword was called tsurugi. The ancient Japanese sword tsurugi had a long handle and the straight double-edged blade. It was worn behind a warrior's back obliquely and a warrior gripped the handle by both hands at once.

In the beginning of the 3rd century the Eastern countries witnessed the appearance of the first tsurugi swords sharpened just at one side. At the handle of some of these swords there was attached a massive counterweight. The production of the first curved swords began around in 710, almost at the same time when there appeared the classical saber in the Middle East. By the 12th century, as the result of the growing power of the samurai's class, the curved blade appreciated as the basic samurai arms had completely replaced the straight one.

A lot of people mix the names of the samurai swords. It is a well-known fact that the samurai wore two swords - the long and the short one. This pair was called daisho (the literal meaning is "big and small") which comprised daito (the big sword), the major arms of a samurai, and shoto (the smaller sword), which served as the additional arm used by the samurai in close combat for cutting off heads or committing seppuku if the samurai did not have the special knife - tanto. The tradition of wearing two swords had firmly established by the 16th century.

The size of the longer blade corresponded to about 66 cm, while of the shorter one - to 33–66 cm. As it has already been mentioned, the longer sword was known among the Europeans as katana. But it is not exactly right. Katana represents a long sword worn in the scabbard in one's belt with the edge turned up and it was taken out of the scabbard drawn in a single move downward. This way of wearing a sword appeared in the 14th-15th century and was widely appreciated as the most comfortable one - wearing katana at the belt with the edge turned up allowed a warrior to take it out instantly with not just the right hand but also the left one. Katana used to refer to a long dagger worn at the belt or a short sword, while the long sword was called tachi.

Tachi was worn at one's side at the cross-belt attached to the scabbard placed with the edge down drawn out in an upward move. This way of wearing a long sword was basically used when the samurai were fighting while riding a horse as for an unmounted warrior it was less comfortable. Moreover, according to the sword etiquette a long sword had to be taken off when entering the house, and to draw the sword out the scabbard from the waistband was much more comfortable and easier than to unhitch it form the cross-belt and than attach it back.

In the period of 14th-15th century than the long swords were worn in one's belt, the wearing the belt at the cross-belt was mainly associated with a ceremonial rites. As the result, there appeared tachi featuring richer decorating (of the knives) and tachi with really grand look. A short sword that was always worn in the scabbard in one's belt was called katana or tanto, when it was worn together with tachi. In case it was accompanied by a long katana, it was called wakizashi. The conclusion is that the name of a samurai sword generally reflects the way it is worn. And the longer and smaller swords, whatever names they had, drawn out of the scabbard, were of the same length and shape. And just the very first variations of the smaller sword (in the time when it was called katana) featured a slightly noticeable curvature and seemed to be almost straight.

The Peculiarities of Daito, Shoto and Nodachi

The length of daito is 95-120 cm, while the shoto's is 50-70 cm. The handle of the longer sword is designed for 3.5 fists, and the shorter one's is for 1.5 fists. The width of the blades of the both swords is about 3 cm, the width of the back is 5 mm. The blade is really sharp. The handle is usually covered by shark's skin or the way not to slip in the hand. The weight of a long sword is about 4 kg. The guard-ring of the both types of swords was rather small and gently covered the hand. It was round-shaped, some of guard-rings resembled a petal or a polyhedron. It was called tsuba. The tsuba of a smaller sword featured additional slits to put knives in its scabbard - one for darting, another one for household needs. The production of tsubas over time turned into artistic trade. They were created in the most sophisticated tracery forms and were decorated by fretwork or relief images.

Besides daisho, a samurai could also wear nodachi - a kind of "field sword" with a blade longer than one meter and the overall length of about 1.5 m. it was usually worn the same way as tsurugi or at one's shoulder holding it by hand. If not to pay attention to the difference in length, nodachi strongly resembles daito.