Noto
納刀
Literally: sheathing the sword
Final sheathing of the sword into the scabbard in iaido, the reverse movement to the draw nukitsuke.
Quick Facts
Katas containing this technique
About
Noto (納刀), literally storing the sword, is, in iaido, returning the blade to the scabbard (saya) after the cut and chiburi. It is the reverse of nukitsuke: nukitsuke draws the blade from the scabbard at the start, noto sheathes it back at the end, closing the iai technique after kiri-oroshi and the symbolic removal of blood. In the 1st kata of the ZNKR seitei set, Mae, noto is the final step after chiburi; in the 3rd kata, Ukenagashi, it follows chinugui, wiping the blade. Exam rules of the Southern California Kendo Federation (SCKF) for 6th to 2nd kyu require five kata from the ZNKR iaido set chosen by the board, each ending with noto. In the SCKF warm-up, noto is practised separately, in a series of batto and noto, ten times running. We have not been able to document who named noto as a separate movement. The development of iai is linked to Hayashizaki Jinsuke Shigenobu in the 16th century, founder of Hayashizaki Shin Muso-ryu, whose lineage gave rise to Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu.