Wakizashi

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Wakizashi style sword mounting, Edo period, 19th century.
Wakizashi style sword mounting, Edo period, 19th century.

The wakizashi is a traditional Japanese sword shorter than katana, which was well known in the beginning of the 17th century as a kodachi sword. The two swords always come together, where wakizashi completed the katana sword. Such a sword could be from 12 to 24 inches long. In cases when the sizes of swords were different, there were special prefixes for the words: if a sword was smaller than the standards then a ko- was added; for longer variants an o-is added. For example, a ko-wakizashi, would mean a shorter variant of wakizashi.

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[edit] Overview

The construction of a wakizashi comprises a traditional slightly curved blade with a square shaped hilt. The hilt and the scabbard of a wakizashi usually represented true works of art, as they were richly decorated with traditional motifs. A wakizashi was decorated rather than a katana because it wasn't used as much as a katana, but still carried everywhere. Another distinctive feature is the scabbard (saya). The sayas were made to be like the katana but they could have additional pockets for small utility knives, hair arranger, etc.

The katana and the wakizashi constitute a set called daishō, which is translated as "large and small". The first part of the word (dai) stands for katana sword and the second (sho) stands for wakizashi. Wakizashi was more decorated than a katana and it was thinner, this is why it was designed to cut through softer targets. So it was a sword to make dangerous cuts of weak points of human body. The use of a daishō on battlefield gave considerable advantage to the one who used the set it. With the two swords the samurai could keep the enemies within a radius of action ranging from 2 to 7 feet. The one who used very skillfully the daishō set at a time was Miyamoto Musashi, a famous Japanese samurai.

[edit] Customs and traditions

A wakizashi sword was an irreplaceable weapon for a samurai. The tradition says that when entering a house or any other building, samurai has to leave his katana with a servant, but the wakizashi could be worn at all times and places. This is why the wakizashi is often called samurai's side arm; moreover the wakizashi followed his master even when he went asleep, because it was always near the bed.

The wakizashi was carried along the thigh and was usually handled with one hand; the other hand was used to handle the katana. The wakizashi proved to be very effective when the katana's length and weight was not or much use. Wakizashi requires less force to use and it is more maneuverable.

Wakizashi is also considered the sword of merchants and artisans (types of traders) who were forbidden from wearing a katana. This fact explains a greater number wakizashi swords were found than katanas. There are even more wakizashi swords than katana swords; though the last one was considered of a greater meaning for Japanese society.

[edit] Seppuku

The wakizashi sword was much used in the ritual of seppuku (suicide, also referred to as hara-kiri). In this ritual it was used along with the shortest Japanese sword - Tantō. The wakizashi was thrust into the torso, cutting open vertically. This kind of death was considered honorable for a samurai. In case, when a female samurai committed seppuku, she would only cut her own throat.

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