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Despite the disputed historical existence of the ninjato, [12] Hayes claims to describe it in detail, and suggests that the typical description of the ninjatō could be due to ninja having to forge their own blades from slabs of steel or iron with the cutting edge being ground on a stone, with straight blades being easier to form than the much ...
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.
Bronze Age European swords. Harpe: mentioned almost exclusively in Greek mythology; Iron Age European swords. Falcata: one-handed single-edged sword – blade 48–60 cm (19–24 in) – with forward-curving blade for slashing
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 ...
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]
Hyohō Niten Ichi-ryū (兵法 二天 一流), which can be loosely translated as "the school of the strategy of two heavens as one", is a koryū (ancient school), transmitting a style of classical Japanese swordsmanship conceived by Miyamoto Musashi.
Tantō are generally forged in the hira-zukuri (平造) style (without a ridgeline), [1] [5] meaning that their sides have no ridge line and are nearly flat, unlike the shinogi-zukuri (鎬造) structure of a katana. Some tantō have particularly thick cross-sections for armor-piercing duty, and are called yoroi toshi.
Katana, showing the hamon as the outline of the yakiba. The nioi appears faintly as the bright line following the hamon; especially visible at the tip (kissaki). In swordsmithing, hamon (刃文) (from Japanese, literally "edge pattern") is a visible effect created on the blade by the hardening process.