Wakizashi
脇差 · wakizashi
A shorter Japanese sword with a curved single-edged blade about 30–60 cm long, a samurai's backup weapon and the smaller half of the daishō pair.
Quick Facts
JapanAbout the weapon
The wakizashi is a Japanese sword with a curved, single-edged blade, made from the Muromachi period (1336–1573) to the present day. The word itself already appears in the chronicle Taiheiki, completed around 1370. It denotes a backup weapon a warrior reaches for when the main weapon is damaged or becomes unusable. The blade measures roughly 30 to 60 cm. The mounting (koshirae) includes the tsuba guard, and accessories are usually tucked into the scabbard: a kōgai skewer and a kozuka utility knife. Specialized craftsmen decorated the metal mounting fittings; one Edo-period wakizashi has fittings by Gotō Ichijō, while another's mounting bears the family crest (mon) of the Shimazu clan. In the Edo period, the first revision of the Buke shohatto code established that a samurai officially wore two swords, a long and a short one: the long one was called honzashi, the short one wakizashi. The two-shaku limit used for the wakizashi was set, according to Japanese sources, by the Hon'ami family for practical reasons when issuing expert appraisals (origami). At the end of the Edo period long wakizashi also became established; the Shinsengumi commander Kondō Isami recommended in a letter ones almost as long as the long sword. Surviving wakizashi are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tokyo National Museum, the Mitsui Museum and the British Museum.
Parts of the weapon
- Guard — tsuba