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komejirushi (米印, "rice symbol") This symbol is used in notes (註, chū) as a reference mark, similar to an asterisk ＊ 2196: 1-1-86: FF0A: hoshijirushi (星印, "star symbol") asterisk (アステリスク, "asterisk") This symbol is used in notes (註, chū) 〽: 1-3-28: 303D: ioriten (庵点) This mark is used to show the start of a ...
The daishō (大小, daishō) —"large and small" [1] —is a Japanese term for a matched pair of traditionally made Japanese swords worn by the samurai class in feudal Japan. The etymology of the word daishō becomes apparent when the terms daitō , meaning long sword, and shōtō , meaning short sword, are used; dai tō + shō tō = daishō ...
kōgai (笄) – a skewer for the owner's hair-do, carried in a pocket of the scabbards of katana and wakizashi on the side opposite of the kozuka. [33] [34] kogatana (小刀) – any knife, particularly a small utility knife carried in a pocket of the scabbards of katana and wakizashi. ko-itame-hada (小板目肌) – see itame-hada. [35]
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]
In modern times the most commonly known type of Japanese sword is the Shinogi-Zukuri katana, which is a single-edged and usually curved sabre traditionally worn by samurai from the 15th century onwards. [15] Western historians have said that Japanese katana were among the finest cutting weapons in world military history, for their intended use.
A diagram of a katana and koshirae with components identified. Fuchi (縁): The fuchi is a hilt collar between the tsuka and the tsuba.; Habaki (鎺): The habaki is a wedge-shaped metal collar used to keep the sword from falling out of the saya and to support the fittings below; fitted at the ha-machi and mune-machi which precede the nakago.
A tsurugi (剣) or ken (剣) is a Japanese sword. The word is used in the West to refer to a specific type of Japanese straight, double-edged sword used in antiquity (as opposed to curved, single-edged swords such as the katana). [1] In Japanese the term tsurugi or ken is used as a term for all sorts of international long, double-edged swords.
A matched set (daisho) of antique Japanese (samurai) swords and their individual mountings (koshirae), katana on top and wakisashi below, Edo period. Swordsmanship, the art of the sword, has an almost mythological ethos, and is believed by some to be the paramount martial art, surpassing all others. Regardless of the truth of that belief, the ...