The Katana

A japanese sword is commonly known as the nihontō(にほんとう) in japan.

There are various and numerous types due to the nature of the sword. Whether the swords size,

the shape, or artistic looks.

The katana may be confused as a generic type of japanese swords, but in fact it is its own.

The size of the swords ranges from 70-90 cm with a curved blade.

 tanto

Japanese swords were inherited in the early 10th century from China and are more based on cutting people instead of stabbing.

There are specific swords that were mainly meant to stab which were often placed on the side of a warrior as a secondary weapon.

The tanto is a double or single edged dagger that has a blade length of about 15 to 30 cm in length (about 6-12 inches.)

The katana style of carrying the sword is where the blade was worn thrust through the belt, edge up.  While the traditional way was to

wear a sword that was suspended with the cutting edge down.

This is an example of a decorated sword guard.

Almost all katana swords are decorated in some fashion.  There are cetain markings that may be on the sword, the handle may

be laid out with certain designs or the sword guard may have a particular design meaing something to the warrior. 

This is a very popular well-known type of katana.  Called the Masamune, this is named after the man who intially created the idea of

the katana and the tanto dagger. Masamune Okazaki is recognized as Japan's greatest swordsmith and is categorized as legendary status.

See also: Japanese Steel