The weapon’s bearer would carry his weapon through the sash with the blade pointing upward and usually paired with a second, smaller weapon sheathed in a manner similar to the main one. It is at this point in time that the obi, a sash, became standard dress. The next big shift in carrying a blade, known as buke-zukuri, happened in 1600 and this method remained fashionable until 1867. Daito carried this way were referred to as tachi and ranged anywhere from 75 to 80 cm (29.5 to 31.5 inches). Prior to 1500, most swords were hung in a fashion known as jindachi-zukuri, with the weapon hanging off the belt via cord, with the edge pointing downward. “Wouldn’t an Exceptionally Long Sword Be a Problem to Carry and Wield?” Translations of the infamously skilled swordsman Miyamoto Musashi’s The Book of Five Rings describes the nodachi and odachi as “extra-long swords.” In practice, however the odachi was either used as a votive offering within a shrine, sometimes used in prayers involving war, or as weapons for samurai infantry. Odachi means “great sword” and nodachi means “field sword,” likely because you could probably do a good job of slicing up a field of wheat with one. and nodachi NODACHI 野太刀 "field sword" learn more. This is where terms like the odachi ODACHI 大太刀 "large tachi sword" learn more. Any blade that goes beyond three shaku in length is considered an exceptionally long daito. Coming back to the daito, while the “floor” length of two shaku was firmly established, the “ceiling” had no such limits. ![]() “That’s It? There Are Only Three Categories of Japanese Sword Lengths?” It is literally a pairing of a big sword with a little sword. Knowing these terms, the name behind the Edo samurai’s daisho kit probably makes a bit more etymological sense. These “bastard daito” are where the kodachi KODACHI 小太刀 "small tachi sword" learn more. While most shoto are wakizashi, some daito were forged so that their blades fell below their normal two shaku classification. Any blade which exceeds two shaku in length is considered to be a daito, a “big sword.” This includes the famous katana blades.īecause some Japanese sword lengths are measured on curved blades, the shaku count is derived from measuring a straight line between the blade’s tip and its munemachi, the point where the blade meets its tang.“little sword.” This includes the wakizashi. A blade that ranges anywhere between one and two shaku is considered a shoto, a.k.a.A blade that is no more than one shaku in length is classified as a tanto TANTO 短刀 "short sword" learn more.There are three main breakdowns in classification according to Japanese sword lengths: The answer to this particular question is… maybe. Does it Make My Pre-1893 Katana No Longer a Katana?” $198.00 See the details “Okay, So I Know What a Shaku Is. While the bu/sun/shaku system was used to measure other things in pre-Meiji Japan, like footwear and cloth, it has survived to this day solely for the purpose of measuring traditional Japanese weaponry like swords and spears. One sun is equivalent to one-tenth of a shaku, and one bu is equivalent to one-tenth of a sun or one-hundredth of a shaku. In the case of the shaku, these would be the sun and the bu. While the “modern” shaku comes out to exactly 11.93 inches (30.30 cm), shaku measurements taken prior to 1893 correlate to 13.96 inches (35.45 cm).Īlso like the foot and its inches, the shaku has special sub-measurements. Before America standardized the length of a foot in 1959, it ranged anywhere from 9.8 (25 cm) to 13.4 inches (34 cm). It is used to measure the length of a sword’s blade, rather than its overall length from pommel to tip.Īnother similarity between the foot and the shaku is that both have changed with time. Where the “foot” measurement comes from the average length of a man’s foot, the “shaku” is a unit of measurement that comes into play when describing a sword. ![]() There are three major categorizations of blade when considering Japanese sword lengths. Shaku: “You Mean Japanese Sword Lengths Are Standardized?” This article is going to focus on the topic of Japanese sword lengths, specifically why they matter when discussing different blades. It’s been said that the more a person learns about a particular subject, the more questions that person is left seeking answers to.
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