Tachi

A is a type of sabre-like traditionally made Japanese sword (nihonto) worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Tachi and uchigatana ("katana") generally differ in length, degree of curvature, and how they were worn when sheathed, the latter depending on the location of the , or signature, on the tang. The tachi style of swords preceded the development of the katana, which was not mentioned by name until near the end of the twelfth century. Tachi were the mainstream Japanese swords of the Kotō period between 900 and 1596. Even after the Muromachi period (1336–1573), when katana became the mainstream, tachi were often worn by high-ranking samurai.

History

File:Blacksmith Munechika, helped by a fox spirit, forging the blade Ko-Gitsune Maru, by Ogata Gekkō.jpg

In the noh drama , the 10th-century blacksmith Munechika, aided by a (fox spirit), forges the (samurai sword) .

File:蕨手刀, Warabiteto, 8th century.jpg

, 8th century, Heian period, Satsumon culture, Tokyo National Museum

File:Kenuki-gata tachi at Ise Shrine.jpg

at Ise Grand Shrine, Heian period. Important Cultural Property.

File:大包平, Okanehira.jpg

, by Kanehira. (old Bizen) school. 12th century, Heian period, National Treasure, Tokyo National Museum. , together with , is considered one of the best Japanese swords in terms of art and is compared to the (the highest rank of a sumo wrestler) of Japanese swords.

The production of swords in Japan is divided into specific time periods:

• (ancient swords, until around 900)
• (old swords, around 900–1596)
• (new swords, 1596–1780)
• (new new swords, 1781–1876)
• (modern or contemporary swords, 1876–present)

The predecessor of the Japanese sword has been called Template:Ill. In the middle of the Heian period (794–1185), samurai improved on the to develop Template:Ill (early Japanese sword). To be more precise, it is thought that the improved the and developed Template:Ill with a hole in the hilt and Template:Ill without decorations on the tip of the hilt, and the samurai developed based on these swords. , which was developed in the first half of the 10th century, has a three-dimensional cross-sectional shape of an elongated pentagonal or hexagonal blade called and a gently curved single-edged blade, typical features of Japanese swords. There is no wooden hilt attached to , and the tang (), integrated with the blade, is directly gripped and used. The term is derived from the fact the central part of tang is hollowed in the shape of ancient Japanese tweezers ().

In the developed after , a structure in which the hilt is fixed to the tang () with a pin called was adopted. As a result, a sword with three basic external elements of Japanese swords, the cross-sectional shape of , a gently curved single-edged blade, and the structure of , was completed. Its shape may reflect the changing form of warfare in Japan. Cavalry were now the dominant fighting unit, and the older straight were unsuitable for fighting from horseback. The curved sword is a far more efficient weapon wielded by a warrior on horseback; the curve of the blade adds considerably to the downward force of a cutting action. According to historian Karl Friday, before the 13th century, there are no written references or drawings showing swords of any kind were used from horseback. However, According to Yoshikazu Kondo, bow and arrows were certainly the main weapons used in cavalry battles, but from around the Genpei War in the 12th century, the use of on horseback increased. Early models had uneven curves with the deepest part of the curve at the hilt. As eras changed, the center of the curve tended to move up the blade.

By the 11th century during the Heian period, were exported to neighboring countries in Asia. For example, in the poem "The Song of Japanese Swords", Ouyang Xiu, a statesman of the Song dynasty in China, described Japanese swords as follows: "It is a treasured sword with a scabbard made of fragrant wood covered with fish skin, decorated with brass and copper, and capable of exorcising evil spirits. It is imported at a great cost."

From the Heian period (794–1185), ordinary samurai wore swords of the style called (, ), which meant black lacquer . The hilt of a is wrapped in leather or ray skin, and it is wrapped with black thread or leather cord, and the scabbard is coated with black lacquer. On the other hand, court nobles wore decorated with precisely carved metal and jewels for ceremonial purposes. High-ranking court nobles wore swords of the style called or (), which meant decorative , and lower-ranking court nobles wore simplified swords of the style called , which meant thin . The and worn by nobles were initially straight like a , but since the Kamakura period they have had a gentle curve under the influence of . Since worn by court nobles were for ceremonial use, they generally had an iron plate instead of a blade.

In the Kamakura period (1185–1333), high-ranking samurai wore (, ), which meant a sword with chains in the arsenal. The scabbard of the was covered with a gilt copper plate and hung by chains at the waist. At the end of the Kamakura period, simplified came to be made as an offering to the of Shinto shrines and fell out of use as weapons. On the other hand, in the Kamakura period, there was a type of called () with a scabbard covered with metal, which was used as a weapon until the Muromachi period. The meaning was a sword wrapped around a leech, and its feature was that a thin metal plate was spirally wrapped around the scabbard, so it was both sturdy and decorative, and chains were not used to hang the scabbard around the waist.

• Script error: No such module "Lang".. 12th century, Heian period. National Treasure. Tokyo National Museum.
  . 12th century, Heian period. National Treasure. Tokyo National Museum.
• Script error: No such module "Lang"., Script error: No such module "Lang".. 13th century, Kamakura period. Important Cultural Property. Tokyo National Museum.
  , . 13th century, Kamakura period. Important Cultural Property. Tokyo National Museum.
• Script error: No such module "Lang".. 13th century, Kamakura period. Important Cultural Property. Tokyo National Museum.
  . 13th century, Kamakura period. Important Cultural Property. Tokyo National Museum.
• Script error: No such module "Lang".. 14th century, Nanboku-chō period. Important Cultural Property. Tokyo National Museum.
  . 14th century, Nanboku-chō period. Important Cultural Property. Tokyo National Museum.

The Mongol invasions of Japan in the 13th century during the Kamakura period facilitated a change in the designs of Japanese swords. The swordsmiths of the Sōshū school represented by Masamune studied ruined – broken or bent in battle – to develop new production methods, and create innovative swords. They forged the blade using a combination of soft and hard steel to optimize the temperature and timing of the heating and cooling of the blade, resulting in a lighter and very robust blade. They also made the curve of the blade gentle, lengthened the tip linearly, widened the width from the cutting edge to the opposite side of the blade, and thinned the cross section to improve the penetration and cutting ability of the blade.

Historically in Japan, the ideal blade of a Japanese sword is considered to be the in the Kamakura period, and the swordsmiths from the Edo period to the present day after the period focused on reproducing the blade of a Japanese sword in the Kamakura period. There are more than 100 Japanese swords designated as National Treasures in Japan, of which the of the Kamakura period account for 80% and the account for 70%.

• National treasure tachi from the Kamakura period (Tokyo National Museum)
• By Nagamitsu. Bizen Script error: No such module "Lang". school.
  By Nagamitsu. Bizen school.
• Script error: No such module "Lang"., by Yoshifusa. Bizen Script error: No such module "Lang". school. The name comes from the fact Oda Nobuo killed his vassal Okada with this sword.
  , by Yoshifusa. Bizen school. The name comes from the fact Oda Nobuo killed his vassal Okada with this sword.
• Script error: No such module "Lang"., by Sukezane. Bizen Script error: No such module "Lang". school. This sword was owned by Tokugawa Ieyasu.
  , by Sukezane. Bizen school. This sword was owned by Tokugawa Ieyasu.
• By Sukezane. This sword was owned by the Kishū Tokugawa family.
  By Sukezane. This sword was owned by the Kishū Tokugawa family.
• Script error: No such module "Lang"., by Kagemitsu. Bizen Script error: No such module "Lang". school. This sword was owned by Kusunoki Masashige.
  , by Kagemitsu. Bizen school. This sword was owned by Kusunoki Masashige.

File:Kuniyoshi - 6 Select Heroes (S81.5), A back view of Onikojima Yatarô Kazutada in armor holding a spear and a severed head.jpg

A back view of a samurai in armor carrying a (sword) and (dagger), on his back is a (banner), while holding a (spear) and a severed head

From the end of the Kamakura period to the end of the Muromachi period (1333–1573), (), which means a wrapped in leather, was popular. The was stronger than the because its hilt was wrapped in leather or ray skin, lacquer was painted on top of it, leather straps and cords were wrapped around it, and the scabbard and sometimes the (hand guard) were also wrapped in leather.

By the 15th century, Japanese swords, including , had already gained international fame by being exported to China and Korea. For example, Koreans learned how to make Japanese swords by sending swordsmiths to Japan and inviting Japanese swordsmiths to Korea. According to the record of June 1, 1430, in the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, a Korean swordsmith who went to Japan and mastered the method of making Japanese swords presented a Japanese sword to the King of Korea and was rewarded for the excellent work which was no different from the swords made by the Japanese.

Traditionally, (bows) were the main weapon of war in Japan, and and were for close combat. The Ōnin War in the late 15th century in the Muromachi period expanded into a large-scale domestic war, in which employed farmers called were mobilized in large numbers. They fought on foot using shorter than . In the Sengoku period (period of warring states) in the late Muromachi period, the war became bigger; fought in a close formation using (spears) lent to them. Furthermore, in the late 16th century, (matchlock arquebuses) were introduced from Portugal, and Japanese swordsmiths mass-produced improved products, with fighting with leased guns. On the battlefield in Japan, guns and spears became main weapons in addition to bows. Due to the changes in fighting styles in these wars, the and became obsolete among samurai, and the , which was easy to carry, became the mainstream. The dazzling-looking gradually became a symbol of the authority of high-ranking samurai.

From the 15th century, low-quality swords were mass-produced under the influence of the large-scale war. These swords, along with spears, were lent to recruited farmers called , while swords were exported. Such mass-produced swords are called , and swordsmiths of the Bisen school and Mino school produced them by division of labor. The export of Japanese sword reached its height during the Muromachi period—at least 200,000 swords were shipped to Ming dynasty China in official trade in an attempt to soak up the production of Japanese weapons and make it harder for pirates in the area to arm. In the Ming dynasty of China, Japanese swords and their tactics were studied to repel pirates, and and were developed based on Japanese swords.

From this period, the tang () of many old were cut and shortened into . This modification is called . For example, many of the Masamune forged during the Kamakura period were converted into , so his only existing works are and .

From around the 16th century, many Japanese swords, including , were exported to Thailand, where -style swords were made and prized for battle and art work, and some of them are in the collections of the Thai royal family.

In the Sengoku period (1467–1615) or the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600), the (, , which means a wound with thread, appeared and became the mainstream of after that. was decorated with lacquer decorations with many and flashy colored threads, and was used as a gift, a ceremony, or an offering to the of Shinto shrines.

In later Japanese feudal history, during the Sengoku and Edo periods, certain high-ranking warriors of the ruling class wore their sword -style (edge-downward), rather than with the scabbard thrust through the belt with the edge upward. This style of swords is called , "half ". In , styles were often mixed, for example, fastening to the was style, but metalworking of the scabbard was style.

With the rise of statism in Shōwa Japan, the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy implemented swords called , worn style (cutting-edge down).

In the Shintō period from around 1596 in the Azuchi–Momoyama period, the traditional techniques of the Kotō period were lost, and no smith was able to reproduce the of the Kamakura period. However, in 2014, Kunihira Kawachi succeeded in reproducing a from the Kamakura period. He received the Masamune Prize, the highest honor as a swordsmith. On the he forged, (a pattern of hazy white shadows between and ), characteristic of the Bizen school in the Kamakura period. Nobody could win the Masamune Prize without extraordinary achievements, and in the field of and , no one won until Kawauchi for 18 years.

• A Script error: No such module "Lang". modified from a Script error: No such module "Lang". forged by Masamune. Sōshū school. 14th century, Kamakura period. Important Cultural Property. Tokyo National Museum. While it was owned by Ishida Mitsunari, it was commonly called Ishida Masamune.
  A modified from a forged by Masamune. Sōshū school. 14th century, Kamakura period. Important Cultural Property. Tokyo National Museum. While it was owned by Ishida Mitsunari, it was commonly called Ishida Masamune.
• Mounting for a sword of the Script error: No such module "Lang". type with design of Script error: No such module "Lang". (family crests). 1600s. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
  Mounting for a sword of the type with design of (family crests). 1600s. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
• Script error: No such module "Lang". style Script error: No such module "Lang". sword mounting. 16th–17th century, Azuchi–Momoyama or Edo period.
  style sword mounting. 16th–17th century, Azuchi–Momoyama or Edo period.

Features

File:Tachi and katana compared.jpg

Comparison between the tangs (nakago) of a (left) and (right). The on the tang was inscribed so it was always on the side of the tang facing outward as either sword was worn.

With a few exceptions, and can be distinguished from each other, if signed, by the location of the signature () on the tang. In general, the signature should be carved into the side of the tang facing outward as the sword is worn on the wielder's left waist. Since a was worn cutting edge down, and the was worn cutting edge up, the would be in opposite locations on the tang of both types of swords.

An authentic had an average cutting edge length () of , and compared to a katana, was generally lighter in proportion to its length, had a greater taper from hilt to point, was more curved and had a smaller point area for penetrating heavy clothing.

Unlike the traditional manner of wearing the , the was worn hung from the belt with the cutting edge down, and was most effective used by cavalry. Deviations from the average length of have the prefixes ko- for "short" and ō- for "great, large" attached. For instance, and closer in size to a were called . The longest (considered a 15th-century ) in existence is in total length with a blade, but is believed to be ceremonial. In the late 1500s and early 1600s, many blades were modified into , their cut tangs () removing the smiths' signatures from the swords.

For a sword to be worn in style, it needed to be mounted in a . The has two hangers (ashi) so the sword can be worn in a horizontal position with the cutting edge down. A sword not mounted in a could be worn style by use of a , a leather device allowing any sword to be worn in the style.

Gallery

Generally, the blade and the sword mounting of Japanese swords are displayed separately in museums, and this tendency is remarkable in Japan. For example, the Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum "Nagoya Touken World", one of Japan's largest sword museums, posts separate videos of the blade and the sword mounting on its official website and YouTube.

• Nikko Sukezane, a Script error: No such module "Lang". owned by Tokugawa Ieyasu. One of 1,000 swords procured by the Tokugawa shogunate in the spring of 1614 from a swordsmith named Iga no Kami Kinmichi in preparation for the Winter Siege of Osaka.[46]
  Nikko Sukezane, a owned by Tokugawa Ieyasu. One of 1,000 swords procured by the Tokugawa shogunate in the spring of 1614 from a swordsmith named Iga no Kami Kinmichi in preparation for the Winter Siege of Osaka.
• Script error: No such module "Lang"., by Sanjō Munechika. A Yamashiro Script error: No such module "Lang". school. Late 10th century, Heian period. National Treasure. Tokyo National Museum. This sword is one of the "Five Swords under Heaven" (Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".).
  , by Sanjō Munechika. A Yamashiro school. Late 10th century, Heian period. National Treasure. Tokyo National Museum. This sword is one of the "Five Swords under Heaven" ( ).
• Script error: No such module "Lang"., by Yasutsuna. Script error: No such module "Lang". (old Script error: No such module "Lang".) school. 12th century, Heian period, National Treasure, Tokyo National Museum. This sword is one of the "Five Swords Under Heaven" (Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "Lang".).
  , by Yasutsuna. (old ) school. 12th century, Heian period, National Treasure, Tokyo National Museum. This sword is one of the "Five Swords Under Heaven" ( ).
• Top: A Script error: No such module "Lang". forged by Rai Kunitoshi. Late Kamakura period. Bottom: Script error: No such module "Lang". style mounting, Early Meiji period.
  Top: A forged by Rai Kunitoshi. Late Kamakura period. Bottom: style mounting, Early Meiji period.
• Top: A Script error: No such module "Lang". forged by Osafune Kanemitsu. Nanboku-chō period. Bottom: Script error: No such module "Lang". mounting, Late Edo period.
  Top: A forged by Osafune Kanemitsu. Nanboku-chō period. Bottom: mounting, Late Edo period.
• Script error: No such module "Lang". forged by Bizen Osafune Sukesada, 1515. Scabbard in aogai-nashiji lacquer, gold decorations. Tokyo National Museum.
  forged by Bizen Osafune Sukesada, 1515. Scabbard in aogai-nashiji lacquer, gold decorations. Tokyo National Museum.
• Script error: No such module "Lang". mountings decorated with Script error: No such module "Lang".. Top and bottom: Script error: No such module "Lang". style sword mountings. Edo period, 1800s. Tokyo National Museum
  mountings decorated with . Top and bottom: style sword mountings. Edo period, 1800s. Tokyo National Museum
• Script error: No such module "Lang". mounting. Mid-Edo period.
  mounting. Mid-Edo period.
• Script error: No such module "Lang". mounting. Late Edo period.
  mounting. Late Edo period.
• Various types of sword Script error: No such module "Lang"., a device used to carry a sword in the Script error: No such module "Lang". style (cutting edge down).
  Various types of sword , a device used to carry a sword in the style (cutting edge down).
• Line drawing showing the correct method of wearing a Script error: No such module "Lang". while in armour
  Line drawing showing the correct method of wearing a while in armour

See also

• Japanese sword
• Katana
• Kodachi
• Ōdachi
• Tenka-Goken – "Five Swords Under Heaven", the five best swords in Japan. All of the five are classified as .

External links

• Richard Stein's Japanese sword guide