The Japanese Sword

A Japanese sword is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. These are categorised in several types according to size and method of manufacture.

The most commonly known type is the katana, which, like the similarly formed tachi, is a single-edged and, usually, curved long sword which was traditionally used by samurai from the 1400s onwards; Wakizashi is the shorter sword; Tsurugi are double-edged long swords; Ōtachi or Nodachi are older but longer single-edged versions.

Japanese swords are still commonly seen; antique and modernly-forged swords can easily be found and purchased. Modern, authentic nihontō are made by a few hundred swordsmiths. Many examples can be seen at contests hosted by the All-Japan Swordsmiths Association.

At the taijiquestion-blog he writes about the the Japanese curved sword:

In my last post I mentioned that curved swords are considered to have certain advantages over straight swords.  I then immediately started talking about sickle-shaped weapons of a type that are distinct from the general run of “swords”.  This was confusing, I now realize…

I really enjoyed reading his thoughts on the matter and loved his blog in general.