Katana

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

The sword in Japanese society

Although the samurai classically carried or had access to many weapons (a bow and spear, at the very least, in addition to their blade(s)), only one was considered the soul of the samurai: the katana (or tachi). The Japanese pinned an extraordinary amount of value on the sword. For much of Japan's history, only samurai were even allowed to carry swords, and a peasant carrying a sword was enough reason to kill the peasant and take the sword after a prohibition was issued in early Edo period. Ronin, needing money, would sometimes be forced to sell their swords, further adding to their highly dishonorable, sometimes vagabond status in Japanese society. They would be "soulless" in the eyes of a Samurai.

Related Topics:
Samurai - Edo period

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Much of early Japanese culture revolved around swords. Elaborate methods for carrying, cleaning, storing, sharpening (or not sharpening), and wielding the sword evolved from era to era.

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For example, a samurai entering someone's house might consider how to place his sheathed sword as he knelt. Positioning his sword for an easy draw implied suspicion or aggression; thus, whether he placed it on his right or left side, and whether the blade was placed curving away or towards him, was an important point of etiquette. As for the host, his long-sword was generally stored under the wakizashi on a low rack, curving upwards; if it curved downwards, or was stored above the wakizashi, that meant the owner expected he might have to draw it quickly - a mark of suspicion to any guest.

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However, most samurai did not use their sword as a primary weapon; bow first, a spear next, and only then the sword. Drawing the sword was like letting one's soul blaze free and usually meant that the samurai was down to the last straw. To have fought till nothing but a surrender is possible, is defined as Ken ore, Ya mo tsuki, (lit. "with swords broken and without an arrow") used as a proverb.

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