He mentions the custom of leaving the katana at the door of a castle or palace when entering while continuing to wear the wakizashi inside. Kanzan Satō, in his book The Japanese Sword, notes that there did not seem to be any particular need for the wakizashi, and suggests that the wakizashi may have become more popular than the tantō due to the wakizashi being more suited for indoor fighting. With the advent of the katana, the wakizashi was eventually chosen by the samurai as the short sword of choice over the tantō. It has been noted that the tachi would be paired with a tantō and later the katana would be paired with another shorter katana. Before the advent of the wakizashi/tantō combination, it was common for a samurai to carry a tachi and a tantō as opposed to a katana and a wakizashi. Tantō were sometimes worn as the shōtō ( 小刀) in place of a wakizashi in a daishō, especially on the battlefield. Women sometimes carried a small tantō called a kaiken in their obi, primarily for self-defense. Tantō were mostly carried by samurai commoners did not generally wear them. Some tantō have particularly thick cross-sections for armor-piercing duty and are called yoroi toshi. Tantō are generally forged in the hira-zukuri ( 平造) style (without a ridgeline), meaning that their sides have no ridge line and are nearly flat, unlike the shinogi-zukuri ( 鎬造) structure of a katana. The tantō was designed primarily as a stabbing weapon, but the edge can be used for slashing as well. The tantō is a single or double edged dagger with a length between 15–30 cm (5.9–11.8 in) (1 Japanese shaku).

The term has seen a resurgence in the West since the 1980s as a point style of modern tactical knives, designed for piercing or stabbing.ĭescription Tantō Terasawa Sadamune, by Sadamune. Tantō were used in traditional martial arts ( tantojutsu). The tantō dates to the Heian period, when it was mainly used as a weapon but evolved in design over the years to become more ornate. Important Cultural Property.Ī tantō ( 短刀, ' short sword ') is one of the traditionally made Japanese swords ( nihonto) that were worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Complete aikuchi-style koshirae (mountings) and bare blade. Tantō with signature ( mei) of Shintōgo Kunimitsu.

O katana sword