Katana

Japanese romaji

Noun

katana (刀, かたな)

1. A Japanese longsword (also known as a daitou ) that was made by folding the steel hundreds of times and placing a hardened blade edge on the cutting side, which when cooled gave it a distinctive curved shape which was well suited to slashing attacks and fast drawing from the saya. They were considered weapons of honor and treated extremely well since the samurai's life depended on the blade. It consisted of the blade, a tsuba or hand guard and a saya or scabbard and was usually kept in a set with a wakizashi that was known as a daisho.

See also

• bokken (木剣 , 木劍 , ぼっけん)
• daitō (大刀 , だいとう )
• ken (剣, 劍, けん)
• kendō (剣道 , 劍道 , けんどう)
• kodachi (小太刀 , こだち)
• saya (鞘, さや)
• shinken (真剣, しんけん)
• shōtō (小刀 , しょうとう)
• tachi (太刀 , たち)
• tantō (短刀 , たんとう)
• tsurugi (剣, 劍, つるぎ)
• wakizashi (脇差 , 脇差し , わきざし)