Katana
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Katana at Okayama Castle.

Katana (刀 or かたな, Katana^?) is a type of Japanese sword (nihontō) often referred to as a "samurai sword." The term is sometimes incorrectly used as a generic name for Japanese swords.

The katana gets its gentle curve from quenching during forming; it is actually straight prior to quenching. Differential quenching causes martensite to form predominantly in the edge of the blade rather than the back; as the edge expands, the blade takes on a gently curved shape.^{citation needed}They were the main weapons of the samurai.

Etymology

Originally used as a general term for single-edged sword, as opposed to tsurugi (剣 or つるぎ, tsurugi^?), which are double-edged swords, the term is now used specifically to describe nihontō that are around 70–90 cm long with a curved blade. This is different from Chokutō (直刀 or ちょくとう, Chokutō^?), which is a straight blade.

Pronounced kah-tah-nah in the kun'yomi (Japanese reading) of the kanji 刀, the word has been adopted as a loanword by the English language. As Japanese does not have separate plural and singular forms, both "katanas" and "katana" are considered acceptable plural forms in English.^{citation needed} Strictly speaking, the word "katana" only refers to the longer variants of nihontō.

History

The katana was mostly paired with the wakizashi or shōtō, a similarly made but smaller sword, both worn by the members of the warrior class. It could also be worn with the tantō, an even smaller similarly shaped blade. The two weapons together were called the daishō and represented the social power and personal honour of the samurai. Although the name katana is more common it only refers to the longer swords.

Ownership and trade in the United Kingdom

As of April 2008, the British government added swords with a curved blade of 50 centimetres or over in length (and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph, the length of the blade shall be the straight line distance from the top of the handle to the tip of the blade) to the Offensive Weapons Order.^[1] This ban was a response to reports that Samurai swords were used in more than 80 attacks and four killings over the four preceding years.^[2] Those who violate the ban would be jailed up to six months and charged a fine of £5,000. Martial arts practitioners, historical re-enactors and people currently possessing such swords may still own them. The sword can also be legal provided it was made in Japan before 1954, or was made using traditional sword making methods. This ban currently applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

See also

• Japanese sword
• Katana construction
• Kenjutsu
• Samurai
• Tachi
• Wakizashi
• Daishō

Part of sword:

• Tsuba
• Katana Yenn

Further reading

• Kapp, Leon (1987). The Craft of the Japanese Sword. Kodansha Intl. Ltd.. 
• Perrin, Noel (1979). Giving Up the Gun: Japan's Reversion to the Sword, 1543-1879. Boston: David R. Godine. 
• Robinson, H. Russell (1969). Japanese Arms and Armor. New York: Crown Publishers Inc.. 
• Sinclaire, Clive. Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior. 
• Takeuchi, S. Alexander (September, 2005). "Common Length of Tsuka on Nihon-to from a Socio-Historical Perspective". Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
• Yumoto, John M (1958). The Samurai Sword: A Handbook. Boston: Tuttle Publishing. 

References