Katana

A katana (刀, katana?) is a type of Japanese sword (nihontō), and is often called a "samurai sword." The term katana may be applied to any curved Japanese sword with a blade length of greater than 60 cm (23.6 inches). The term is sometimes incorrectly used as a generic name for any kind of Japanese sword.

The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single edged blade, circular or squared guard, and long grip to accommodate two hands. It has historically been associated with the samurai of feudal Japan, and has become renowned for its extraordinary sharpness and cutting ability, to the point that its purported cutting capabilities have reached mythical status.

Etymology

Originally used as a general term for single-edged sword, as opposed to tsurugi, which are double-edged swords, the term is now used specifically to describe nihontō that are around 70–90 cm (27.6 to 35.4 in) long with a curved blade. This distinguishes them from chokutō, which feature straight blades.

Pronounced kah-ta-nah, 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 forms in English.

Daikatana (usually given as the kanji 大刀) is a pseudo-Japanese term meaning "large sword". (In Japanese, 大刀 is actually read daitō, and is a less-used synonym for uchigatana.) The reading mistake comes from the different ways Japanese Kanji can be read, depending on their combination or not in a word. It has been used in some (English-language) fictional works to represent a kind of large katana (perhaps better known as an ōtachi); the video game Daikatana, for example.

History

The katana originated in the Muromachi period (1392–1573) as a result of changing battle conditions requiring faster response times. The katana facilitated this by being worn with the blade facing up, which allowed the samurai to draw and cut their enemy in a single motion. Previously, the curved sword of the samurai was worn with the blade facing down. The ability to draw and cut in one motion also became increasingly useful in the daily life of the samurai.
The length of the katana's blade varied considerably during the course of its history. In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, katana blades tended to be between 70 and 73 cm (27.6 and 28.7 inches) in length. During the early 16th century, average length was much closer to 60 cm (23.6 inches), but late in the 16th century, it was again approximately 73 cm (28.7 in).

The katana was paired most often with the wakizashi or shōtō, a similarly made but shorter sword, both worn by the members of the warrior class. It could also be worn with the tantō, an even smaller similarly shaped dagger. The katana and wakizashi when paired with each other were called the daishō and they represented the social power and personal honour of the samurai ......

More at Wikipedia

Senso-Ryu Bujutsu Kai of Indianapolis Blog