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Tachi

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Template:Short description Template:Other uses Template:Italic title Template:Infobox weapon

A Template:Nihongo 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 Template:Nihongo, 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.<ref name="Turnbull2011">Template:Cite book</ref> Tachi were the mainstream Japanese swords of the Kotō period between 900 and 1596.<ref>Template:Cite book, page 48</ref> Even after the Muromachi period (1336–1573), when katana became the mainstream, tachi were often worn by high-ranking samurai.

History

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File:Blacksmith Munechika, helped by a fox spirit, forging the blade Ko-Gitsune Maru, by Ogata Gekkō.jpg
In the noh drama Template:Lang, the 10th-century blacksmith Munechika, aided by a Template:Lang (fox spirit), forges the Template:Lang (samurai sword) Template:Lang.
File:蕨手刀, Warabiteto, 8th century.jpg
Template:Lang, 8th century, Heian period, Satsumon culture, Tokyo National Museum
File:Kenuki-gata tachi at Ise Shrine.jpg
Template:Lang at Ise Grand Shrine, Heian period. Important Cultural Property.

[[File:大包平, Okanehira.jpg|thumb|Template:Lang, by Kanehira. [[Japanese sword#Classification by school|Template:Lang (old Bizen) school]]. 12th century, Heian period, National Treasure, Tokyo National Museum. Template:Lang, together with Template:Lang, is considered one of the best Japanese swords in terms of art and is compared to the Template:Lang (the highest rank of a sumo wrestler) of Japanese swords.<ref>Template:Lang. Template:Lang, August 2, 2017</ref>]]

The production of swords in Japan is divided into specific time periods:<ref>"Transition of Template:Lang, and Template:Lang". Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Touken World.</ref>

The predecessor of the Japanese sword has been called Template:Ill.<ref name="enc202033">Kazuhiko Inada (2020), Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords. p. 33. Template:ISBN</ref><ref name="Warabite">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In the middle of the Heian period (794–1185), samurai improved on the Template:Lang to develop Template:Ill (early Japanese sword).<ref name="enc202033" /><ref name="Warabite" /> To be more precise, it is thought that the Template:Lang improved the Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang based on these swords.<ref>Tatsuhiko Shimomukai (2007). Template:Lang. Kodansha. Template:ISBN.</ref> Template:Lang, 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 Template:Lang and a gently curved single-edged blade, typical features of Japanese swords. There is no wooden hilt attached to Template:Lang, and the tang (Template:Lang), integrated with the blade, is directly gripped and used. The term Template:Lang is derived from the fact the central part of tang is hollowed in the shape of ancient Japanese tweezers (Template:Lang).<ref name ="en20p32">Kazuhiko Inada (2020), Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords. pp. 32–33. Template:ISBN</ref>

In the Template:Lang developed after Template:Lang, a structure in which the hilt is fixed to the tang (Template:Lang) with a pin called Template:Lang was adopted. As a result, a sword with three basic external elements of Japanese swords, the cross-sectional shape of Template:Lang, a gently curved single-edged blade, and the structure of Template:Lang, was completed.<ref name ="en20p32"/><ref name="rekishi2036">Template:Lang. September 2020. pp.36–37. Template:ASIN</ref> Its shape may reflect the changing form of warfare in Japan. Cavalry were now the dominant fighting unit, and the older straight Template:Lang 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.<ref name="rekishi2036"/> 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.<ref>P.84</ref>Template:Full citation needed 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 Template:Lang on horseback increased.<ref>Yoshikazu Kondo (1997). Template:Lang. Yoshikawa Kobunkan. Template:ISBN</ref> 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.<ref name="rekishi2090">Template:Lang. September 2020. pp. 6, 36–37. Template:ASIN</ref>

By the 11th century during the Heian period, Template:Lang 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."<ref name="takeot">Takeo Tanaka (2012). Template:Lang. p. 104. Kodansha. Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Template:Lang Template:Lang. March 27, 2016.</ref>

From the Heian period (794–1185), ordinary samurai wore swords of the style called Template:Lang (Template:Lang, Template:Lang), which meant black lacquer Template:Lang. The hilt of a Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang decorated with precisely carved metal and jewels for ceremonial purposes. High-ranking court nobles wore swords of the style called Template:Lang or Template:Lang (Template:Lang), which meant decorative Template:Lang, and lower-ranking court nobles wore simplified Template:Lang swords of the style called Template:Nihongo, which meant thin Template:Lang. The Template:Lang and Template:Lang worn by nobles were initially straight like a Template:Lang, but since the Kamakura period they have had a gentle curve under the influence of Template:Lang. Since Template:Lang worn by court nobles were for ceremonial use, they generally had an iron plate instead of a blade.<ref name ="en20p36">Kazuhiko Inada (2020). Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords. pp.36–44. Template:ISBN</ref><ref name="rekishi200937">Template:Lang. September 2020. pp. 37–41. Template:ASIN</ref>

In the Kamakura period (1185–1333), high-ranking samurai wore Template:Lang (Template:Lang, Template:Lang), which meant a sword with chains in the arsenal. The scabbard of the Template:Lang was covered with a gilt copper plate and hung by chains at the waist. At the end of the Kamakura period, simplified Template:Lang came to be made as an offering to the Template:Lang of Shinto shrines and fell out of use as weapons. On the other hand, in the Kamakura period, there was a type of Template:Lang called Template:Lang (Template:Lang) 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.<ref name ="en20p36"/><ref name="rekishi200937"/>

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 Template:Lang – 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.<ref>Template:Lang. Masamune Sword and Blade Workshop</ref><ref>Template:Lang. Touken World.</ref>

Historically in Japan, the ideal blade of a Japanese sword is considered to be the Template:Lang in the Kamakura period, and the swordsmiths from the Edo period to the present day after the Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang of the Kamakura period account for 80% and the Template:Lang account for 70%.<ref name="toukenkaku">Template:Lang. Touken World.</ref><ref name="sankei170702">Template:Lang. Sankei Shimbun. July 2, 2017</ref>

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 Template:Lang (sword) and Template:Lang (dagger), on his back is a Template:Lang (banner), while holding a Template:Lang (spear) and a severed head

From the end of the Kamakura period to the end of the Muromachi period (1333–1573), Template:Lang (Template:Lang), which means a Template:Lang wrapped in leather, was popular. The Template:Lang was stronger than the Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang (hand guard) were also wrapped in leather.<ref name ="en20p36"/>

By the 15th century, Japanese swords, including Template:Lang, had already gained international fame by being exported to China and Korea.<ref name="tanaka1982">Takeo Tanaka (1982) Template:Lang. p. 348. Shibunkaku. Template:ASIN</ref> 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.<ref name="tanaka1982"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Traditionally, Template:Lang (bows) were the main weapon of war in Japan, and Template:Lang and Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang were mobilized in large numbers. They fought on foot using Template:Lang shorter than Template:Lang. In the Sengoku period (period of warring states) in the late Muromachi period, the war became bigger; Template:Lang fought in a close formation using Template:Lang (spears) lent to them. Furthermore, in the late 16th century, Template:Lang (matchlock arquebuses) were introduced from Portugal, and Japanese swordsmiths mass-produced improved products, with Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang and Template:Lang became obsolete among samurai, and the Template:Lang, which was easy to carry, became the mainstream. The dazzling-looking Template:Lang gradually became a symbol of the authority of high-ranking samurai.<ref name="rekishi200940">Template:Lang. September 2020. p. 40. Template:ASIN</ref><ref>History of Japanese swords "Muromachi period - Azuchi-Momoyama period". Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Touken World</ref><ref>"Arms for battle - spears, swords, bows". Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Touken World</ref>

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 Template:Lang, while swords were exported. Such mass-produced swords are called Template:Lang, and swordsmiths of the Bisen school and Mino school produced them by division of labor.<ref name="rekishi200940"/><ref name="rekishi200970">Template:Lang. September 2020. pp. 70–71. Template:ASIN</ref> 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 Template:Lang and Template:Lang were developed based on Japanese swords.<ref name="takeot"/><ref>Koichi Shinoda. (1 May 1992). Chinese Weapons and Armor. Shinkigensha. Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Rekishi Gunzo. (2 July 2011) Complete Work on Strategic and Tactical Weapons. From Ancient China to Modern China. Gakken. Template:ISBN</ref>

From this period, the tang (Template:Lang) of many old Template:Lang were cut and shortened into Template:Lang. This modification is called Template:Lang.<ref>Template:Lang Nagoya Touken Museum Touken World</ref> For example, many of the Template:Lang Masamune forged during the Kamakura period were converted into Template:Lang, so his only existing works are Template:Lang and Template:Lang.<ref name="toukenmasa">Template:Lang. Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Touken World.</ref>

From around the 16th century, many Japanese swords, including Template:Lang, were exported to Thailand, where Template:Lang-style swords were made and prized for battle and art work, and some of them are in the collections of the Thai royal family.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the Sengoku period (1467–1615) or the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1600), the Template:Lang (Template:Lang, Template:Lang, which means a Template:Lang wound with thread, appeared and became the mainstream of Template:Lang after that. Template:Lang was decorated with lacquer decorations with many Template:Lang and flashy colored threads, and was used as a gift, a ceremony, or an offering to the Template:Lang of Shinto shrines.<ref name ="en20p36"/>

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

With the rise of statism in Shōwa Japan, the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy implemented swords called Template:Lang, worn Template:Lang style (cutting-edge down).<ref>Philip S. Jowett (2002). The Japanese Army, 1931–45. Vol. 1: The Japanese Army 1931–42. Osprey. Template:ISBN. p. 41.</ref>

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 Template:Lang of the Kamakura period. However, in 2014, Kunihira Kawachi succeeded in reproducing a Template:Lang from the Kamakura period. He received the Masamune Prize, the highest honor as a swordsmith. On the Template:Lang he forged, Template:Lang (a pattern of hazy white shadows between Template:Lang and Template:Lang), characteristic of the Bizen school in the Kamakura period. Nobody could win the Masamune Prize without extraordinary achievements, and in the field of Template:Lang and Template:Lang, no one won until Kawauchi for 18 years.<ref name="toukenutsu">Template:Lang. Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Touken World</ref>

Features

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File:Tachi and katana compared.jpg
Comparison between the tangs (nakago) of a Template:Lang (left) and Template:Lang (right). The Template:Nihongo on the Template:Lang tang was inscribed so it was always on the side of the tang facing outward as either sword was worn.

With a few exceptions, Template:Lang and Template:Lang can be distinguished from each other, if signed, by the location of the signature (Template:Lang) 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 Template:Lang was worn cutting edge down, and the Template:Lang was worn cutting edge up, the Template:Lang would be in opposite locations on the tang of both types of swords.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

An authentic Template:Lang had an average cutting edge length (Template:Transliteration) of Template:Convert, 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Unlike the traditional manner of wearing the Template:Lang, the Template:Lang was worn hung from the belt with the cutting edge down,<ref>Inami Hakusui (2009). Nippon-tô: the Japanese sword. Cosmo. p. 160.</ref> and was most effective used by cavalry.<ref>"A distinguished collection of arms and armor on permanent display", Issue 4 of Bulletin, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History History Division, Ward Ritchie Press, 1969. p. 120.</ref> Deviations from the average length of Template:Lang have the prefixes ko- for "short" and ō- for "great, large" attached. For instance, Template:Lang and closer in size to a Template:Lang were called Template:Lang. The longest Template:Lang (considered a 15th-century Template:Lang) in existence is Template:Convert in total length with a Template:Convert blade, but is believed to be ceremonial. In the late 1500s and early 1600s, many Template:Lang blades were modified into Template:Lang, their cut tangs (Template:Lang) removing the smiths' signatures from the swords.<ref>Kōkan Nagayama (1998). The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords, illustrated ed. Kodansha International. Template:ISBN. p. 48.</ref>

For a sword to be worn in Template:Lang style, it needed to be mounted in a Template:Lang. The Template:Lang has two hangers (ashi) so the sword can be worn in a horizontal position with the cutting edge down.<ref>Morihiro Ogawa and Kazutoshi Harada (2009). Art of the samurai: Japanese arms and armor, 1156–1868. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Template:ISBN. p. 193.</ref> A sword not mounted in a Template:Lang could be worn Template:Lang style by use of a Template:Lang, a leather device allowing any sword to be worn in the Template:Lang style.<ref>Daniel C. Pauley (2009). Pauley's Guide - A Dictionary of Japanese Martial Arts and Culture. Samantha Pauley. Template:ISBN. p. 91.</ref>

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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.<ref>Touken World YouTube videos about Japanese swords</ref><ref>Touken World YouTube videos on koshirae (sword mountings)</ref>

See also

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References

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Template:Reflist

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Template:Commons category

Template:Japanese (samurai) weapons, armour and equipment Template:Swords by region

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