We all have grown up watching the formidable samurai warrior wielding his samurai sword thrashing his enemies. Japan, with its minimalistic disciplinarian culture has become synonymous with samurai values of living.
Samurai swords have played a pivotal role in shaping modern Japanese society. These Japanese swords dictated the way of life during the shogunate period and life of a samurai revolved around his sword.
We will take a look at various samurai swords and the role they played in Japanese politics and social life.
Pre-Samurai Era Swords (500-900 BCE)
Long before the samurai became the military ruling class in Japan, they were just scattered in groups and couldn't be defined as a single entity with a distinctive samurai sword.
The pre samurai era swords of this time were called Chokuto and these Japanese swords were hugely popular between 500 to 900 AD. This pre-samurai era sword was straight and single edged with a length of around 60cm (2 ft).
There was another pre samurai era sword popular around the same time called Tsurugi which was exactly like a Chokuto but double edged. These swords were inspired by Chinese swords and were the symbol of the Emperor before samurai class began to emerge on the scene.
Samurai Swords Of Heian Period (794-1185 BCE)
The Heian period saw the samurai warriors as armed supporters of the wealthy landowning class in the Japanese society. These rich clams fought amongst themselves and samurai were their soldiers, using pre samurai era swords like the one-piece construction- Chokuto-mentioned above.
The Gempei war (1180-1185) really saw the samurai emerging as the formidable force with Minamoto Yoshitsune leading his clan to victory using the famous samurai sword-Tachi.
Tachi- Great Samurai Sword
Tachi is often referred to as a precursor to the Katana sword. Tachi literally means 'great sword' and originated around 900s. It was a 75cm samurai sword with the entire blade curved. This samurai sword was not a one piece construction and had a tang and guard.
This samurai sword was long and hung with an edge facing down. A variation of Tachi was called Kodachi- small great sword which was basically a smaller Tachi, less than 2ft long.
Why did the samurai love curved swords? Well, these curved samurai swords were easy to draw on a horseback and were good for slashing.
But another reason why all samurai swords were curved was because samurai really wanted to make their swords harder and difficult to break. So the samurai's swordsmiths devised a method called 'Differential hardening' whiçh caused all samurai swords to be both strong and flexible at the same time.
Uchigatana-15th Century Samurai Sword
By the end of the 12th century, the samurai had established their first military dictatorship in Japan with the Kamakura shogunate. This Period saw the rise in variety of samurai swords and their code of honor, Bushido, started forming. Sword honor became a part of it and samurai warriors became staunch Buddhists.
The Ashikaga Shogunate that followed saw many changes in the samurai way of warfare. The Mongol invasion of Japan in the 13th century forced the samurai to change their war tactics and consequently, the design of samurai swords underwent many changes.
The uchigatana-means striking sword-became popular around this time. This was a 65cm samurai sword which was short enough to keep in a sash with edge facing up. Mongols had taught samurai warriors the art of close combat fight and this samurai sword was perfect for foot soldiers as it didn't flop around and could be drawn and struck quickly.
Katana and Wakizashi-Samurai Swords Of Tokugawa Shogunate
The Tokugawa Shogunate of 1615 saw the rise in popularity of Bushido (way of the warrior). Samurai took full control of the military, civil and political affairs with the unification of Japan. Samurai swords of this era are the most popular Japanese swords in the history of feudal Japan.
Katana refers to a curved single edged sword. This samurai sword was shorter than a tachi, with around 60-90cm blade length and less curved. Katana was in fact too short to be effectively deployed from horseback and samurai usually wielded it as a last resort.
Another samurai sword of this period of samurai history was called Wakizashi-meaning a sword worn on the side. This samurai sword was very short-around 1-2ft and kept for in-door dueling. During the Tokugawa shogunate, peacetime prevailed and samurai became the only class with the right to own swords.
Samurai often wore two swords-katana and wakizashi-together and became known as two swordsmen. The samurai way of life, with loyalty, duty and honor became commonplace in Japanese society. These two samurai swords became symbols of samurai authority in this time.
Odachi- Great Big Samurai Sword
Towards the end of samurai rule, the Odachi became a really popular samurai sword. It was a really long sword-longer than a poll arm. Most samurai had a sword carrier walking behind them to carry this samurai sword.
This samurai sword was so long that many samurai had to wrap a cloth around the lower part of the blade to hold it properly. This Japanese sword could be easily drawn from the horseback and was heavily used in the samurai rebellions that led to and were common during the Meiji restoration.
Meiji Restoration (1868) And Modern Samurai Code
Like all great things, the samurai rule and shogunate came to an end after facing heavy resistance from various clans. The intervention of US and weastern forces which opened up Japanese society to the world also created factions and signalled the end of sword fighting and the samurai era.
Guns replaced samurai swords and the emperor was restored back to the throne. The fall of shogunate was instigated by some samurai factions who continued to rebel even after the Meiji restoration. The samurai way of life never left Japan.
The 1902 war against Russia and the two world wars saw the return and rise of samurai code of honor with discipline and military supremacy became hallmarks of Japanese war effort. Bushido will never die.
