![]() They were generally mostly straight, and often rather wide. Tantō (短刀): Though the kanji literally means "Short Sword", the tantō was more like a large dagger.Chiisagatana (小さ刀): A sword of intermediate length halfway between a katana and a wakizashi.Most samurai homes had a sword-rack near the door so that visitors could leave their katana there but keep their wakizashi in case anything happened inside. Their usage as such is actually much older, but only in Edo period it was strictly codified and actually enforced. (The name literally means " thrust sideways.") Sometimes worn together with a katana (this combination is called daishō, 大小) - this pair became the samurai's standard set of weapons during the Edo period, and was something of a status symbol. Wakizashi (脇差): A Muromachi-period short sword, worn thrust sideways through the belt.Uchigatana, which literally means Striking Sword, is the official, more specific term for the katana. Worn thrust through the waist sash with the cutting edge facing up. Most tachi were shortened into katana in response to the new laws (rather unfortunately, since there were a lot of very famous tachi that got modified), and new swords produced during the period were made with less and different curvature to reflect their wearer's greater likelihood of drawing and using them on foot in a duel than from a horse on a battlefield. Katana (刀): Shorter and not as curved as the tachi, the katana was introduced in the Muromachi period (mostly analogous to the Sengoku-jidai) in response to weapons control regulations that restricted the length of swords that could be carried.Said design characteristics also proved to be somewhat of an Achilles' Heel against the Mongols the samurai complained their blades tended to chip against the Mongol armour. Tachi are usually longer and more curved than the katana, tempered to a harder degree as well. In effect, this sword is equivalent to the European longsword, as it was used during the medieval period in Japan. Tachi (太刀): A large, curved sword similar to a katana, but longer and more deeply curved, and worn suspended by cords from the waist with the edge facing down.While it resembles a katana more than the tsurugi, it's still not a proper one (resembles more of spadroons, without the crossguard). While they're also called tachi, it was written with different kanji (大刀) and was very different in design. Chokutō (直刀): A straight, single-edged sword that existed prior to the 10th century.Straight-bladed and double-edged, it resembles more of a European medieval sword than a katana. Tsurugi (剣): The oldest type of Japanese sword, this was essentially a copy of the Chinese jian.Uchigatana, striking sword, is the Japanese sword used for the specific type of sword which is usually known just as katana. There is some Truth in Television as in Japanese, the word katana simply means sword, not any particular type of sword. That people in Japan sometimes use "katana" as a generic term for "sword", regardless of type, does not help to alleviate the confusion. In reality, the katana is a fairly recent weapon, relatively speaking, and hadn't been introduced yet during the classical period portrayed in many Jidaigeki films. ![]() That fact is entirely lost in popular culture, however, in which Japanese swords, regardless of design, are referred to as "katanas," because Katanas Are Just Better. Japanese swords have evolved throughout Japanese history. ![]()
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