h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Very good article.

Do you think that it would be inappropriate to mention the Wakisashi as it was the combination of the Katana and the Wakisashi that showed that you were a true samurai? As I've heard it, only the samurai were allowed to carry both of these swords together.
I have no factual reference to this comment, it is just something I have heard various times over the years. I think it had something to do with the Katana and the Wakisashi that belonged to a samurai were to be made by the same smith and maybe even by the same batch of steel.

Can anyone either confirm or reject this?

I had thought of writing a second paragraph about the wakizashi, but didn't think it would fit well with all of the information about the Katana. Although looking at it now, I believe that maybe a second section about the Wakizashi should be added, or maybe just a separate entry entirely.

But I do believe that all of your points are correct, since I have heard/read them before somewhere.

I think that another section in this article about the Wakisashi would be great. Maybe even if you renamed the article to "The Samurai Swords", since I think that it was the combination of the two swords that showed that someone was a true samurai.

True... but keep in mind that peasants could use the Wakisashi. It was the katana, or the combination of the two, that was the symbolism of the Bushi.

Tanto's were also known to go along with the other two....
Also inscribed under the grip was the number of heads (depending on the origin of the katana) it removed in testing....
(a little background on that)
they usually lined up the condemned/dead bodies/bundles of bamboo and went through as many as possible in one swing
it wasn't uncommon for a sword from a true master smith to take off 4 or 5 heads with no trouble
talk about a long swing

also the wakasashi alot of times came from the same folding as the katana.... and we're *most* of the time a matching set which currently are *EXTREMELY* rare to find
i have *yet* to find the matching wakasashi to my katana.... which reminds me to post some pics somewhere of my katana on the net...
woo

The tanto was/is more of a knife than a sword, though, isn't it? Wouldn't it be a bit useless to walk around with one 30 inch sword, one 15-20 inch sword as well as a 5 inch knife at your waist? Or maybe not... Oh well...

And yes, the wakizashi could be a peasant's belonging, but the combination of the katana and the wakizashi were strictly reserved for the samurai warriors. Especially since the katana ans the wakizashi were to be made from the same folding of steel.

The Katana was not the only blade at the disposal of the Samurai. Depending on the the time-period and the functions that the Samurai was expected to accomplish he could have used a Tachi (slung sword), a Dai Katana (horse sword), a Katana, a Wakisashi, a Tanto (dagger), an Aikuchi (a dagger without a tsuba (guard)), or even a Heyazashi, a small tanto worn inside his clothing.

All were made with the same smithing techniques and were single edged with the distinctive curve of the Japanese sword. But you are correct to say that the Katana was the favored sword of choice.

Until the Meiji reforms, it was the privilage and duty of the Samurai to wear two swords. These was usually a Katana and a shorter sword, most of the time a Wakizashi. But these weapons were not neccisarily the exclusive domain of the Samurai caste.

I may be wrong, but I've heard that the Katana was never to come in contact with anything other than flesh. To do so would dull or chip the blade.

Am I incorrect in assuming that the wakizashi was only used for Hara Kiri (ritual suicide)? I thought I heard something like that before...

From what I've heard, the seppukku wasn't performed using the wakizashi, but rather a knife with a thinner blade than the wakizashi.
After all, trying to use a 35-40 cm sword (and that's just the length of the blade itself) would most likely be a bit tricky.

To say that the katana were never to be in contact with anything but flesh is a bit self-defeating, isn't it? After all, a human body isn't made up exclusively of flesh, but also bone, and if what you say is correct, then the katana wouldn't stay sharp when used in battle to chop up enemies, but would basically just become a 75 cm butter knife.

BTW, congrats on getting the article approved!

Let me add my congratulations on a very good article. I have always been fascinated by the Japanese samurai (and indeed, their ninja counterparts) and enjoy reading about them. I would personally love to own a katana (it's been a long dream, in fact) but living in Ireland doesn't help matters. Congrats again!

I was generalizing. I figured bone could be encompassed by the term 'flesh'.

There are many differnt types of swords that come under the heading "samurai sword" the 'no-dachi'(a very large sword)is another example. There does need to be some addition to this article

It was certainly my understanding that the katana and wakizashi (or wakisashi... I hadn't seen that spelling before) were forbidden to all but samurai. Together the two swords were known as the dai-sho, or big-little.

At some point in Japanese history, peasants were forbidden from carrying edged weapons at all, which is when such things as nunchaku, originally rice flails, became popular as weapons.

Certainly there's a lot of mystique to the art of sword-making, and much attention was devoted to the sword furniture as well.

This deserves a fuller commentary... I'll be back.

Seppuku could be accomplished with just about any blade. A dirk would be much easier for the belly-splitting, but any blade would do in a pinch. It was usually the second that provided the fatal blow, and not the person cutting his gut open. (The second was a trusted warrior who stood behind the condemned and chopped off the head of the one performing the ritual using the sword of the person committing seppuku)

In tamishigiri (balde testing) a katana or other sword is passed through a great deal of materials. Most commonly today, old tatami mats rolled up. But bamboo is also used or straw, and I have heard of people performing tamishigiri on dead pigs (since the corpses of codnemed criminals are no longer available).

A Katana or any sword that has been used will show signs of this use. The cutting surface of a katana is very very hard and is prone to chipping in use. But this damage is usually repairable. There are still expert sword polishers in Japan that can do wonders.

I have been fortunate enough to see the result of such polishing with my own eyes. A collector had found an old sword that was in terrible condition. It had not been taken care of at all and was very rusted and pitted, along with damage incurred from its use centuries ago. He sent this sword to a polisher in Japan, and it returned a thing of marvelous beauty. The surface of the blade had a mirror polish to it, and the hamon (temper line) was clearly visible. All that remained was the damage from use. (I saw the "before" in photographs and the "after" in person)

These thing were weapons, designed to cut flesh and bone, and everything in between. Not just art pieces. These were praticle artifacts to be used, not merely admired for their beauty.

I actually heard somewhere taht if someone wielding a Katana ever faced off against someone wielding a claymore, teh katana could quite easilly cut through aformentioned claymore. And was it true that the katana had to draw blood once drawn before it was put back in the scabbard?

Interesting thought about the Katana having to draw blood before being returned to the scabbard. n theory, that would mean that every time the samurai took it out of the scabbard to sharpen it or generally take care of it, he'd have to either find someone to cut, or cut himself before returning it to its restful state in the scabbard..

Claymore vs. Katana hasn't happened anywhere that I know of outside of the Highlander films. "Claymore (Cleidh Mór) refers to great deal of differnt swords. The styles of use are different its hard to tell which would come up on top in a contest. As far as craftmanship goes a traditionaly made Katana is the superior tool.

A blade drawing of blood before being allowed back in its sheath as far as I can tell is a part of fantasy.

The earliest wakisashi were made from the remains of Katana blades broken in battle.
Despite the care taken by the swordsmith, the blades would still break. Japanes culture
varied many times throughout history, but U are correct. Only the samurai were permitted
to carry the Daisho (Long and short swords) They weren't necessarily made from the
same batch of steel, but this would have most likely been the case for the Daimyo (battle
proven samurai granted lands, power money and title by the Emperor), and their most
favored, and therefore most well paid samurai warriors. One weapon I particularly like the
sound of is the naginata.A curved blade mounted on a 4-7 foot pole, the longest carried by
men in battle, the shorter versions for women. The Samurai would go into battle with their
Katana blade sometimes mounted on the 7 foot wooden pole which is the Naginata handle
They would fight with this until the pole eventually broke, and then would seek shelter for a
moment to remove the blade from the broken end of the pole, and change it over to their
sword hilt fittings. They considered their Katana blade to be the physical embodiment of their
soul, and an insult to the blade could result in death. Walking past a fellow samurai and
allowing your scabbard to knock his, would cause said samurai to instantly turn, draw his blade
and cut you in half with it. I'll send more info as it comes to mind, as I know quite about
about the subject