with a shinogi running close to the cutting edge and a very narrow point area. The shinogi and koshinogi are straight.
KATAKIRIHA-ZUKURI 片切刃造り
One side of this blade is flat (hira-zukuri), while the other side has a shinogi very close to the cutting edge. There is no yokote line on the flat side.
SHOBU-ZUKURI 菖蒲造り
This blade has a shinogi extending to the tip of the point, but lacks a distinctive, defined point area (i.e., it has no yokote line).
NAGAMAKI-ZUKURI 長巻造り
This style is basically a shinogi-zukuri sword; however, it has a characteristic large groove starting above the tang. The shinogi-ji is beveled strongly toward the mune edge in front of this groove. A small companion groove (soe-bi) runs below the main groove and below the shinogi line.
KISSAKI-MOROHA-ZUKURI 切先両刃造り
(KOGARASU-ZUKURI 小烏造り)
This style of sword was first seen in the Heian period in a sword called the Kogarasu Maru. It has nagamaki-style grooves and bevels, and the blade is strongly curved. The blade is double-edged; the sharp edge running along the mune surface extends along half of the blade’s length. The small companion groove extends almost all the way to the tip of the sword.
TYPES OF JAPANESE POLEARM
Four types of polearm are shown here.
A naginata has a hamon, strong curvature near the point, and a long tang.
A ken-style blade can be made as a yari with a long tang. It has a shinogi running along its center on both sides.
The yari shown above are long-tanged. Many yari have a shinogi on one side and a flat hira-zukuri–style surface on the other.
Yari often have cross-blades in various shapes or styles. The one shown here is called a “jumonji yari.”
TANTO (DAGGER) STYLES
Several traditional tanto styles are shown here. Tanto are usually 12 inches (30 cm) long or less, and vary in their groove patterns, blade shapes, and the locations of the shinogi and yokote lines.
SWORD CURVATURE: SORI
The sori is a measure of the blade’s curvature. Usually, a straight line is drawn from the very tip of the point to the munemachi (the notch at the base of the unsharpened back of the sword) at the top of the tang. The distance between the top of the mune and this straight line at its greatest point is called the “sori.”
The curvature of the sword is also described in terms of the location of the sori. If the longest part of the sori line occurs in the center of the sword, the blade is said to have a “toriizori” or to be “wazori.” If the sori is forward of the center of the blade (that is, the sori line is above the center of the blade and biased toward the tip of the sword), the sword is said to have a “sakizori.” If the sori line occurs below the center of the sword and is biased toward the tang, the sword is said to have a “koshizori.”
In this figure, all three swords actually have the same amount of curvature in the blade, but the location of the sori varies and they have differently shaped nakago. If a straight line were drawn from the tip of the point to the bottom of the nakago, and the sori was then measured from this line, the three blades would have different types and amounts of sori. Therefore, when swords are shown in photographs, the type of sori and amount of curvature will appear different depending on the vertical orientation of the sword in the photos.
SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE POINT
The size and shape of the sword’s point (kissaki) can vary. A kokissaki is a small point, a chukissaki is a medium-sized point, and an okissaki is a large point. The ikubikissaki is one whose length is the same as the length of the yokote line defining the point.
The fukura is the shape of the curved cutting edge in the point. The fukura can be very full and round (fukura tsuku) or relatively straight (fukura kareru).
MUNE AND NAKAGO SHAPES
The mune is the unsharpened back surface of the sword. The most common style is an iorimune, in which the mune has two sides that come to a peak at the top. A mitsumune has three surfaces: two sides that meet a flat top. A marumune has a rounded surface, and a kakumune is squared-off and flat.
A few of the shapes that the nakago (tang) of a Japanese sword may take.
YASURIME: FILE MARKS ON THE TANG
“Yasurime” refers to the decorative pattern of file marks on the tang of the sword. Individual smiths and schools have characteristic yasurime. The condition of the file marks, along with the shape of the tang and the color of the rust, can provide considerable information about a sword.
HI: GROOVES
Hi (grooves cut into the sword’s surface) usually extend the full length of the sword and run parallel to the back surface. They may have shaped ends, or they may simply be cut into the unpolished part of the nakago without a finished end. They can be wide (bo-bi) or very narrow (soe-bi and tsure-bi). Grooves are usually added for decoration, but they can also lighten a sword or strengthen it by making the blade stiffer.
The name of the hi is followed by the style in which the end nearest to the tang is finished (e.g., “bo-bi/marudome” refers to a straight groove that is finished with a round end just above the tang).
1. BO-BI/KAKINAGASHI
棒樋・掻き流し
A bo-bi is a straight groove. “Kakinagashi” means that the end closest to the nakago is not carefully finished, but simply tapers out below the polished area of the blade on the tang.
2. BO-BI/KAKITOSHI
棒樋・掻き通し
A bo-bi is a straight groove. “Kakitoshi” means that the end closest to the nakago is not carefully finished, but is cut all the way through the full length of the tang.
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