![]() ![]() Early models had uneven curves with the deepest part of the curve at the hilt. Between 987 – 1597, swords are kotō: these are considered the pinnacle of Japanese swordcraft. In reality the folded steel process and single edge swords had been brought over from China through trade. According to legend, the Japanese sword was invented by a smith named Amakuni in 700 AD, along with the folded steel process. The Ainu used Warabite-tō(蕨手刀) swords and these influenced the katana. ![]() In the Heian Period (8th to 11th centuries) sword-making developed through techniques brought from Siberia and Hokkaidō, territory of the Ainu people. Before 987, examples of Japanese swords are straight chokutō or jōkotō and others with unusual shapes. The style, called Kashima no Tachi (鹿島の太刀), was created at the Kashima Shrine (in Ibaraki Prefecture). One of the oldest known Japanese forms of sword dates from the Kofun era (3rd and 4th centuries). Modern katana and wakizashi are only made by the few licenced practitioners that still practice making these crafted weapons today, and even the "type 98 katanas" of World War II are rare. The art of drawing the katana and attacking one's enemies is iaidō.Īuthentic Japanese swords are fairly uncommon today, although genuine antiques can be acquired at significant expense. While the practical arts for using the sword for its original purpose are now obsolete, kenjutsu and iaijutsu have turned into modern martial arts. The katana was primarily used for cutting, and intended for use with a two-handed grip. The long blade was used for open combat, while the shorter blade was considered a side arm, more suited for stabbing, close quarters combat, and seppuku, a form of ritual suicide. The two weapons together were called the daishō, and represented the social power and personal honour of the samurai. It could also be worn with the tantō, an even smaller similarly shaped blade. The katana was typically paired with the wakizashi or shōtō, a similarly made but shorter sword, both worn by the members of the warrior class. Pronounced in the kun'yomi (Japanese reading) of the kanji 刀, the word has been adopted as a loan word by the English language as Japanese does not have separate plural and singular forms, both "katanas" and "katana" are considered acceptable plural forms in English. It is also used specifically for a type of Japanese backsword or longsword (大刀 daitō) in use after the 1400s: a curved, single-edged sword traditionally used by the samurai. Katana (刀) is the word for " sword" in the Japanese language. ![]()
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