Katana

: This article is about the Japanese sword. For the motorcycle, see Suzuki Katana..

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The katana (刀) is the Japanese backsword or longsword (大刀 daitō), although many Japanese use this word generically as a catch-all word for sword. Katana (pronounced ) is the kun'yomi (Japanese reading) of the kanji 刀 ; the on'yomi (Chinese reading) is tō. In Mandarin, it is pronounced dāo. While the word has no separate plural form in Japanese, it has been adopted as a loan word by the English language, where it is commonly pluralised as katanas.

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It refers to a specific type of curved, single-edged sword traditionally used by the Japanese samurai. The weapon was typically paired with the wakizashi, a similarly made but shorter sword both worn by the members of the buke (bushi) warrior class, it could also be worn with the tanto, an even smaller similarly shaped blade. The two weapons together were called the daisho, and represented the social power and personal honor of the samurai (buke retainers to the daimyo). The long blade was meant for cutting, while the shorter blade was reserved for stabbing purposes and for the purpose of performing seppuku, a form of ritual suicide. In fact, seppuku was a right reserved for samurai in order to preserve their honor by taking their own life should the need arise, and therefore the short sword was only carried by employed samurai, and not by masterless samurai (or ronin). The scabbard for a katana is referred to as a saya, and the handguard piece, often intricately designed as individual works of art especially in later years of the Edo period, was called the tsuba.

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It is primarily used for cutting (although the chisel-like tip, called the kissaki, allows for thrusting) and can be wielded one- or two-handed, the latter being the most common mode. It is traditionally worn edge up. While the practical arts for using the sword for its original purpose are now somewhat obsolete, kenjutsu has turned into gendai budo — modern martial arts for a modern time. The art of drawing the katana is iaido (also known as battō-jutsu or iaijutsu), and kendo is an art of fencing with a shinai (bamboo sword) protected by helmet and armour, additionally, iaijutsu is an older style of battle field type fencing. Old koryu sword schools do still exist (Kashima Shinto-ryu, Kashima Shin-ryu, Katori Shinto-ryu). Perhaps one of the more famous types of Japanese fencing was "Nitto Ryu" or the use of both the Katana and Wakizashi in tandem; a technique most famously used by Miyamoto Musashi.

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:See also: tsurugi, tsuba, saya, tachi, wakizashi, zanbatou, iaito, bokken, shinai, shinken.

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Japan: For other uses, see Japan (disambiguation)....

Backsword: Backsword is a denomination of any type of sword with only one edge, with the back of the sword often being the thickest part of the blade....

Longsword: See long-sword for other uses of the term....

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