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Horimono (彫り物, 彫物, literally carving, engraving), also known as chōkoku (彫刻, "sculpture"), are the engraved images in the blade of a nihonto (日本刀) Japanese sword, which may include katana or tantō blades. [1] The artist is called a chōkokushi (彫刻師), or a horimonoshi (彫物師, "engraver").
The wakizashi was one of several short swords available for use by samurai including the yoroi tōshi, and the chisa-katana. The term wakizashi did not originally specify swords of any official blade length [10] and was an abbreviation of wakizashi no katana ("sword thrust at one's side"); the term was applied to companion swords of all sizes. [11]
The word katana first appears in Japanese in the Nihon Shoki of 720. The term is a compound of kata ("one side, one-sided") + na ("blade"), [6] [7] [8] in contrast to the double-sided tsurugi. The katana belongs to the nihontō family of swords, and is distinguished by a blade length (nagasa) of more than 2 shaku, approximately 60 cm (24 in). [9]
Blades whose length is next to a different classification type are described with a prefix 'O-' (for great) or 'Ko-' (for small), e.g. a Wakizashi with a length of 59 cm is called an O-wakizashi (almost a Katana) whereas a Katana of 61 cm is called a Ko-Katana (for small Katana; but note that a small accessory blade sometimes found in the ...
A daishō is typically depicted as a katana and wakizashi (or a tantō) mounted in matching koshirae, but originally the daishō was the wearing of any long and short katana together. [3] The katana/wakizashi pairing is not the only daishō combination as generally any longer sword paired with a tantō is considered to be a daishō.
Irezumi (入れ墨, lit. ' inserting ink ') (also spelled 入墨 or sometimes 刺青) is the Japanese word for tattoo, and is used in English to refer to a distinctive style of Japanese tattooing, though it is also used as a blanket term to describe a number of tattoo styles originating in Japan, including tattooing traditions from both the Ainu people and the Ryukyuan Kingdom.
Miryam Lumpini, world-renowned tattoo artist, adds that “Snake tattoos typically symbolize power or rebirth, or danger, even, but for my clients, a snake (as with any animal or object) can ...
Visual glossary of Japanese sword terms. Japanese swordsmithing is the labour-intensive bladesmithing process developed in Japan beginning in the sixth century for forging traditionally made bladed weapons [1] [2] including katana, wakizashi, tantō, yari, naginata, nagamaki, tachi, nodachi, ōdachi, kodachi, and ya.