Sword Glossary : table view |
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Term![]() |
Definition |
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yakiba |
燒刃
The hardened area of the blade. Categories: Blade Terminology |
yahazu |
矢筈
Hamon type resembling arrow notches or a fishtail. Yahazu midare - irregular yahazu. Categories: Hamon Types |
wakizashi |
脇差, 脇指
Blades greater than 30 and less than 60 cm (12 and 24 inches) in length are known as wakizashi. During the Edo period, this was the shorter of the pair of swords worn by samurai. The word "wakizashi" comes from waki (脇), meaning "side", and zashi (差し), whose root is the verb sasu (差す), meaning "to wear a sword at one's side". Special terms are used for blades of unusual length:
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utsuri |
移り
(jap. utsuru - to be reflected) 'Reflections' of hamon in the ji. However, its shape may also be different from hamon. Utsuri is not as strong as the haom and in order to see it clearly the blade must be held against the light source. There are different types of utsuri based on the shape:
Also there are references to:
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uma-ha |
馬歯
Horse teeth shaped hamon pattern. Uma-midare stands for irregular uma-ha. Categories: Hamon Types |
uchinoke |
打ちのけ
Small crescent moon shapes of nie appearing like nijuba in the ji close to the hamon. An example of uchinoke can be seen here. Categories: Hataraki |
ubu |
生ぶ
Blades which weren't shortened (still have nakago in its original shape) can be referred to as 'ubu'. Categories: Blade Terminology |
tsukuri-komi |
造込み
Overall construction of the blade. Categories: Blade Terminology |
toranba |
濤瀾刃
A hamon pattern resembling large, surging waves of the sea. Toran-midare - irregular toranba. Categories: Hamon Types |
togari-gunome |
尖り互の目
Gunome in which the peaks are pointed and orderly. This pattern is found in the blades of Sue-Seki and related schools. Categories: Hamon Types |
togari |
尖り
Lit. 'Pointed'. See togari-ba and togari-gunome. Categories: General Terms |
tobiyaki |
飛焼
Islands of tempering in the ji (not connected to the main hamon). Example |
tachi |
太刀
A curved sword with a blade longer than 2 shaku (~60cm). It was worn suspended from the belt with the blade edge down. They were mainly produced in Koto times. Later, many old tachi were cut down into katana. The majority of surviving tachi blades now are o-suriage, so it is rare to see an original signed ubu tachi. Categories: Types of Swords/Pole Arms |
sunzumari |
寸詰まり
Shorter than average (see jōsun) wakizashi or tanto. Categories: Blade Terminology |
sunnobi |
寸延び
Longer than average wakizashi or tanto. See jōsun for more details. Categories: Blade Terminology |
sunagashi |
砂流し, 砂流
An activity which resembles sweeping sands (lit. 'flowing sand'). Usually appears inside the hamon parallel to the cutting edge. An example of sunagashi can be seen here. Categories: Hataraki |
suguba |
直刃
Straight hamon. Suguba may be classified (according to the width of hamon) as:
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sudareba |
簾刃
A hamon that resembles brush strokes, or a bamboo curtain. Sudareba is based on suguba or a shallow notare. Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi originated the pattern, and his followers maintained it. Categories: Hamon Types |
shaku |
尺
The shaku is an archaic Japanese unit of length which is commonly approximated to be 12 inches (1 foot). As with other measurements, it was originally derived from nature: the average length between nodes on bamboo. Since 1891, the shaku has been defined to equal 10/33 meter (approximately 30.3 cm, or 11.93 inches), or 3.3 shaku to the meter. A single shaku is divided into 10 sun (寸). 1 shaku = 11.93 inches (30.30 cm) 1 shaku = 10 sun 1 sun = 10 bu 1 bu = 10 rin |
sanjuba |
三重刃
'Triple hamon'. See nijuba. Categories: Hataraki |
sanbon-sugi |
三本杉
Lit. 'three cedars'. A sub-type of togari+gunome with repeating three peaks which resemble cedar trees. Originated by Kanemoto 2nd. Categories: Hamon Types |
saka ashi |
逆足
Ashi slanted towards the tip of the blade. Categories: Hataraki |
orikaeshi-mei |
折返銘
A way to preserve mei (signature) on the tang when shortening it (see o-suriage) by bending it around to the opposite side, therefore leaving it upside-down. Categories: Blade Terminology |
odachi |
大太刀
A tachi with a cutting edge that exceeds 3 shaku (91cm). See also The Nodachi/Ôdachi web files. Categories: Types of Swords/Pole Arms |
obusa-choji |
大房丁子
Obusa means the shape of the head of hamon (round part of hamon) looks like a big bunch of choji. Categories: Hamon Types |
o-suriage |
大磨上
A "greatly shortened" nakago. The o-suriage nakago is formed from the part of the blade (originally), while suriage nakago is more just reshaped. In this case the signature is usually lost, unless orikaeshi-mei or gaku-mei have been performed. Categories: Blade Terminology |
o-kissaki |
大切先
Large kissaki. The size appears exaggerated in comparison with blades length and width. Categories: Kissaki Types |
o-dabira |
大段平
A thick, curved type of companion sword of the Nambokucho Period with wide mihaba and o-kissaki. Categories: Types of Swords/Pole Arms |
notare |
湾れ
An undulating pattern of gentle waves. It can also be classified (by the wave amplitude) as: Categories: Hamon Types |
nokogiriba |
鋸刃
See kataochi gunome. Categories: Hamon Types |
nogirimidare |
鋸乱れ
See kataochi gunome. Categories: Hamon Types |
niku |
肉
Lit. 'meat'. ji having niku means that ji area is not flat, but rounded, curved in the cross-section. Hira-niku - measure to describe the niku of hira area (also: ji-niku) Niku can be described as full (平肉多い - hiraniku oi) or flat (平肉少ない - hiraniku sukunai). Categories: Blade Terminology |
nijuba |
二重刃
Lit. 'Double hamon'. A second line of hamon which appears parallel to main hamon line. Triple line of hamon can be referred to as sanjuba. An example of nijuba can be seen here. Categories: Hataraki |
Nihonto |
日本刀
Japanese sword, a curved blade with shinogi. Categories: General Terms |
nezumi ashi |
鼠足
'Rat's feet'. Small numerous ashi. Categories: Hataraki |
nakagojiri |
茎尻
The end of the nakago. Categories: Blade Terminology |
nakago |
中心
The tang of the sword; that part of the blade, below the machi, which is inserted into the hilt (tsuka). It is finished by hammering or filing, and often bears a carved signature. The hilt is attached by means of a peg (mekugi) inserted through a special hole (mekugi+ana) in the nakago. Depending on the condition of nakago the following terms can be applied:
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nagasa |
長さ
Blade length, measured from the tip to the munemachi. Categories: Blade Terminology |
muneyaki |
棟焼
A tempered spot or line found on the mune. Categories: Hataraki |
munemachi |
棟区
The notch dividing the blade from the tang on the mune side. See machi. Categories: Blade Terminology |
mihaba |
身幅
The width of a blade measured from the mune to the cutting edge. See also: moto-haba, saki-haba. Categories: Blade Terminology |
midareba |
乱刃
Irregular pattern of hamon. All hamon except [suguba] are midareba. Sub-types of midareba:
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midare |
乱
Irregular. See midareba, choji midare. Categories: General Terms |
meibutsu |
名物
Lit. 'Famous thing'. In relation to Nihonto, meibutsu is:
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machi |
区, 匸
The notches dividing the blade proper from the tang. The notch on the blade side is called hamachi; that on the mune side is known as the munemachi. Categories: Blade Terminology |
kurijiri |
栗尻
Lit. 'Chestnut-shaped'. The rounded shape of nakagojiri. It's the one of the most commonly seen shapes. Categories: Blade Terminology |
kuichigai ha |
喰い違い刃, 喰違刃
Lines of hamon, which are not completely aligned, creating a gap or a break in hamon. It's common in Yamato-den blades. An example of kuichigai ha can be seen here. Categories: Hataraki |
ko-shinogi |
小鎬
The part of the shinogi that runs from the yokote to the tip in the kissaki. Categories: Blade Terminology |
ko-ashi |
小足
Small ashi. An example of ko-ashi can be seen here. Categories: Hataraki |
kissaki |
切先
The fan-shaped part of the blade above the yokote and the ko-shinogi. It may be whitened by polish. It's size is described as 'large' or 'small'. Categories: Blade Terminology |