Editing Wakizashi (section)

==History and use==
The production of swords in Japan is divided into specific time periods:<ref name="nagoyatrans">[https://web.archive.org/web/20201029155106/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/10024/ Transition of kotō, shintō, shinshintō, and gendaitō.] Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Touken World</ref>

* ''Jokotō'' (ancient swords, until around AD 900)
* ''Kotō'' (old swords from around 900–1596)
* ''Shintō'' (new swords 1596–1780)
* ''Shinshintō'' (newer swords 1781–1876)
* ''Gendaitō'' (modern or contemporary swords 1876–present)

The ''wakizashi'' has a blade between {{convert|30|and|60|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length.<ref name="Ogyû Sorai's Discourse on government (Seidan)"/>  ''Wakizashi'' close to the length of a ''[[katana]]'' are called ''ō-wakizashi'' and ''wakizashi'' closer to ''[[tantō]]'' length are called ''ko-wakizashi''.<ref name="Ogyû Sorai's Discourse on government (Seidan)"/> ''Wakizashi'' are not necessarily just a smaller version of the ''katana''; they could be forged differently and have a different cross-section.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wExlaM1ov0sC&pg=PA138 ''Samurai: The Code of the Warrior'', Thomas Louis, Tommy Ito, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2008 P.138]</ref>

[[File:Long Sword and Scabbard LACMA AC1999.186.1.1-.16.jpg|thumb|left|Antique Japanese ''[[daishō]]'', the traditional pairing of two Japanese swords which were the symbol of the ''samurai'', showing the traditional Japanese sword cases (''[[koshirae]]'') and the difference in size between the ''katana'' (bottom) and the smaller ''wakizashi'' (top).]]

''Wakizashi'' have been in use as far back as the 15th<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=IQ3FAZG94ZsC&pg=PA87 ''Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior'', Clive Sinclaire, Globe Pequot, 2004 P.87]</ref> or 16th century.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wExlaM1ov0sC&pg=PA138 ''Samurai: The Code of the Warrior'', Thomas Louis, Tommy Ito, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2008 P138]</ref> The ''wakizashi'' was used as a backup or auxiliary sword;<ref name="Ogyû Sorai's Discourse on government (Seidan)"/> it was also used for close quarters fighting, to behead a defeated opponent<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=m-XpP_pdANcC&pg=PA240 ''The encyclopedia of nineteenth-century land warfare: an illustrated world view'', Byron Farwell, W. W. Norton & Company, 2001 P.240]</ref> and sometimes to commit [[seppuku]].<ref>''[[A glossary of the construction, decoration and use of arms and armor in all countries and in all times]], together with some closely related subjects'', George Cameron Stone, Jack Brussel Pub., 1961 P.201</ref> The ''wakizashi'' was one of several short swords available for use by samurai including the  ''[[yoroi tōshi]]'', and the ''chisa-katana''. The term ''wakizashi'' did not originally specify swords of any official blade length<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=i0ni1NmbYe0C&pg=PA158 ''Handbook to life in medieval and early modern Japan'', William E. Deal, Oxford University Press US, 2007 P.158]</ref> and was an abbreviation of ''wakizashi no katana'' ("sword thrust at one's side"); the term was applied to companion swords of all sizes.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=q5KBjpGSRgkC&pg=PA78 ''Samurai, warfare and the state in early medieval Japan''] (Google eBook), [[Karl Friday]], Psychology Press, 2004 P.78</ref>

[[File:Wakizashi Soshu Akihiro.jpg|thumb|Although the number of forged swords decreased in the [[Meiji period]], many artistically excellent mountings were made. A ''wakizashi'' forged by Soshu Akihiro. [[Nanboku-chō period]] (top). Wakizashi mounting, Early Meiji period (bottom).]]

During the [[Edo period]], the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] required samurai to wear ''Katana'' and shorter swords in pairs. These short swords were ''wakizashi'' and ''tanto'', and ''wakizashi'' were mainly selected.<ref name="rekishi200942">''歴史人'' September 2020. pp.42-43. {{ASIN|B08DGRWN98}}</ref> The ''wakizashi'' being worn together with the ''katana'' was the official sign that the wearer was a samurai. When worn together, the pair of swords were called ''[[daishō]]'', which translates literally as "big-little". Only ''samurai'' could wear the ''daishō'': it represented their social power and personal [[honour]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vFS2iT8QjqEC&pg=PA68 ''The Japanese sword'', Kanzan Satō, Kodansha International, 1983 p.68]</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzIXkFec0e8C&q=wakizashi&pg=PA18 |title=Classical weaponry of Japan: special weapons and tactics of the martial arts |first=Serge |last=Mol |pages=18–24 |publisher=Kodansha International |year=2003 |isbn=4-7700-2941-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFf9e0DmHZUC&q=wakizashi&pg=PA258 |page=258 |title=Secrets of the samurai: a survey of the martial arts of feudal Japan |first1=Oscar |last1=Ratti |first2=Adele |last2=Westbrook |year=1973 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |isbn=0-8048-1684-0}}</ref> During this period, commoners were allowed to wear one legal-length ''ko-wakizashi'', which made it popular for the general public to wear wakizashi. This was common when traveling because of the risk of encountering bandits.<ref>''Taiho-jutsu: law and order in the age of the samurai'', Don Cunningham, Tuttle Publishing, 2004 P,23</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zPyswmGDBFkC&pg=PA48 ''The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords'', Kōkan Nagayama, Kodansha International, 1998 P.48]</ref> ''Wakizashi'' were worn on the left side, secured to the waist sash (''[[Commons:Category:Uwa-obi (himo)|Uwa-obi or himo]]'').<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z9lmmkvQOpoC&pg=PA260 ''Secrets of the samurai: a survey of the martial arts of feudal Japan'', Oscar Ratti, Adele Westbrook, Tuttle Publishing, 1991 P.260]</ref><ref name="rekishi200942"/> It was not until the Edo period in 1638 when the rulers of Japan tried to regulate the types of swords and the social strata which were allowed to wear them that the lengths of ''katana'' and ''wakizashi'' were officially set.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zPyswmGDBFkC&pg=PA35 ''The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords'', Kōkan Nagayama, Kodansha International, 1998 P.35]</ref>

Kanzan Satō, in his book titled ''The Japanese Sword'', notes that there did not seem to be any particular need for the ''wakizashi'' and suggests that the ''wakizashi'' may have become more popular than the ''tantō'' because it was more suited for indoor fighting. He mentions the custom of leaving the ''katana'' at the door of a castle or palace when entering, while continuing to wear the ''wakizashi'' inside.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vFS2iT8QjqEC&pg=PA68 ''The Japanese sword'', Kanzan Satō, Kodansha International, 1983 P.68]</ref>