Glossary of the Japanese sword

Over 170 terms grouped by category (blade types, shape, forging, hamon, bōshi, tang, carvings, mounting, fittings, assessment, papers and periods), and alphabetically within each one. This is the closed vocabulary used to write dealers' descriptions and Japanese certificates; knowing it is enough to read a full description and see what it claims and what it leaves out. Long vowels carry a macron, as in jūyō or tokubetsu, and terms that can be drawn or photographed carry a figure alongside the text.

Blade types

Term	Kanji	Definition
daishō	大小	A matched pair of long and short swords in en-suite mountings, worn by Edo-period samurai.
katana	刀	A curved blade of 60.6 cm nagasa or more, worn through the sash edge upwards.
ken / tsurugi	剣	A straight, double-edged blade, of ritual origin and linked to esoteric Buddhism.
naginata	薙刀	A polearm with a long curved blade, used by foot soldiers and warrior monks (sōhei).
naginata-naoshi	薙刀直し	A naginata blade converted into sword format, by shortening the shaft and reworking the tang.
ōdachi / nodachi	大太刀・野太刀	An unusually long tachi, uncommon and hard to carry; worn over the shoulder or carried by hand.
tachi	太刀	A long sword slung edge-downwards from the belt, characteristic of the kotō period.
tantō	短刀	A blade under 30.3 cm nagasa.
wakizashi	脇差	A blade between 30.3 and 60.6 cm nagasa, the short sword of the daishō.
yari	槍	A Japanese spear with a straight blade, in single-point or branched forms.

Sugata: shape and curvature

Term	Kanji	Definition
chū-kissaki	中切先	A medium-length point, the most common across every period.
fumbari	踏ん張り	A widening of the blade near the machi, a typical kotō trait that gives stability to the cut.
hira-zukuri	平造	A flat cross-section, with neither shinogi nor yokote; common on tantō, very rare on long blades.
ikubi-kissaki	猪首切先	A short, stout point, "boar's neck"; typical of early Sōshū work.
kanmuri-otoshi-zukuri	冠落造	A cross-section with the shinogi-ji thinned near the point, as if a layer had been shaved off.
kissaki	切先	The point of the blade, from the yokote to the tip.
kissaki-moroha-zukuri	切先諸刃造	A blade with a double edge at the point, though the rest is single-edged.
koshi-zori	腰反り	Curvature centred near the tsuka, the commonest form on kotō-period tachi.
moroha-zukuri	諸刃造	A blade double-edged along its whole length, like the ken.
ō-kissaki	大切先	A long point, characteristic of late Kamakura and Nanbokuchō, and revived in the shinshintō period.
saki-zori	先反り	Curvature shifted towards the point, typical of the shintō and shinshintō periods.
shinogi-zukuri	鎬造	A cross-section with a defined shinogi, the commonest on tachi and katana since the kotō period.
shōbu-zukuri	菖蒲造	A cross-section without a yokote, the shinogi running to the point as on an iris leaf.
sori	反り	Curvature: the greatest distance between the back and the chord joining machi and point.
sugata	姿	The overall shape and silhouette of the blade; the first thing read in any kantei.
torii-zori	鳥居反り	An even, centred curvature, like the crossbeam of a torii gate; typical of the jōkotō period.
uchizori	内反り	Inverted curvature, towards the edge rather than the back; found on very old tantō.
unokubi-zukuri	鵜首造	A cross-section narrowed at the back just before the point, like a cormorant's neck.

Blade measurements

Term	Kanji	Definition
ha	刃	The hardened cutting edge, opposite the mune.
ji	地	The surface of the blade between the shinogi and the hamon, where the steel is read.
kasane	重ね	Thickness of the blade measured across the mune; quoted at the machi and the yokote.
machi	区	The notches on edge and back that divide the blade from the tang.
mihaba	身幅	Width of the blade, from edge to back; measured at the machi and the yokote.
monouchi	物打	The cutting stretch just below the yokote; where flaws show up first.
mune	棟	The back of the blade; its commonest shapes are iori, mitsu and maru.
nagasa	長さ	Blade length in a straight line from the mune-machi to the tip.
shinogi	鎬	The longitudinal ridge dividing the blade; it runs nearer the back than the edge.
shinogi-ji	鎬地	The flat between the shinogi and the mune, where grooves are cut.
yokote	横手	The transverse line, square to the shinogi, separating the kissaki from the rest of the blade.

Kitae: forging and grain

Term	Kanji	Definition
ayasugi-hada	綾杉肌	A wavy grain in parallel bands, the visual signature of the Gassan school.
chikei	地景	Dark, gleaming lines that appear in the ji of finely worked steel.
itame-hada	板目肌	Steel grain in irregular figures like sawn board; the commonest pattern.
jifu	地斑	Dark, irregular patches that appear in the ji of some Bizen steel.
jihada	地肌	The pattern of the folded steel visible in the ji after polishing.
kawagane	皮鉄	The harder surface steel that wraps the blade's soft core in traditional forging.
kitae	鍛え	The process of forging and repeated folding of the steel that builds the blade.
konuka-hada	小糠肌	An extremely fine, near-uniform grain, "like rice bran"; typical of the Hizen school, which imitated Awataguchi's nashiji-hada.
masame-hada	柾目肌	A grain of straight lines parallel to the edge, uncommon on long blades.
mokume-hada	杢目肌	Steel grain in knots and circles, like burl grain in wood.
muji-hada	無地肌	A grain almost invisible to the naked eye after polishing, very fine and even.
nashiji-hada	梨子地肌	A fine, even grain like the grainy skin of a pear; typical of Sōshū and Shizu work.
shingane	心鉄	The soft steel core left wrapped inside the forged blade.

Hamon: the tempered edge line

Term	Kanji	Definition
ara-nie	荒沸	Coarse nie, visible to the naked eye without a loupe.
ashi	足	A fine hardening line crossing the hamon towards the edge, like a foot.
chōji	丁子	A hamon shaped like clove buds, scalloped; typical of Ko-Bizen and Ichimonji work.
gunome	互の目	A hamon of similarly sized semicircles, one after another.
gunome-midare	互の目乱れ	Irregular gunome, with semicircles of varying size and rhythm.
hamon	刃文	The visible border between the hardened edge steel and the body of the blade.
hitatsura	皆焼	A temper covering almost the whole blade, including the ji; found in late Sōshū work (Hiromitsu, Akihiro).
inazuma	稲妻	A zigzag line of nie inside the hamon, like a bolt of lightning.
juka-chōji	重花丁子	Chōji in overlapping clusters, like double flowers; found in Fukuoka Ichimonji work.
kataochi-gunome	片落ち互の目	Asymmetric gunome, with one side of each semicircle steeper than the other.
kinsuji	金筋	A narrow bright line of nie inside the hamon, like a thread of gold.
kō-chōji	小丁子	Chōji of small size and tight rhythm.
ko-nie	小沸	Fine, dense nie, visible only up close.
nie	沸	Crystals visible one by one, like stars, in the hamon or the ji.
nioi	匂い	A mist of extremely fine martensite particles, seen as a continuous haze.
nioi-guchi	匂い口	The transition from hamon to blade body; crisp or misty depending on the school.
notare	湾れ	A hamon of broad, gentle waves without sharp peaks.
ō-chōji	大丁子	Chōji of large size, with broad, very visible scallops.
suguha	直刃	A straight hamon with no appreciable undulation; it demands very even hardening.
sunagashi	砂流し	Long streaks inside the hamon, like sand swept by a broom.
toranba	濤瀾刃	A hamon of large chained waves; found in Osaka shintō work, the Sukehiro school.
uchinoke	打ちのけ	A small arc of nie over the hamon, detached from it like a crescent moon.
yahazu-midare	矢筈乱れ	A hamon with notches shaped like an arrow's nock, repeated along the edge.
yō	葉	An isolated islet of temper within the ji, near the hamon but not touching it.

Bōshi: the temper of the point

Term	Kanji	Definition
bōshi	帽子	The hamon inside the kissaki; its shape and turn-back are key to attributing a blade.
ichimai	一枚	A bōshi that fills the whole kissaki with no visible turn-back; a trait linked to Masamune.
jizō-bōshi	地蔵坊主	A rounded, gentle bōshi, like the head of the deity Jizō.
kaen-bōshi	火焔帽子	A flame-shaped bōshi, with the turn-back broken into irregular points.
kaeri	返り	The turn-back of the bōshi from the tip towards the back.
midare-komi	乱れ込み	A bōshi entering the kissaki with the same irregular undulation as the hamon on the body.
yakizume	焼詰め	A bōshi with no turn-back, ending right at the point without returning towards the back.

Nakago: the tang and the signature

Term	Kanji	Definition
gimei	偽銘	A false signature, or one added in another smith's name; it voids the paper, not necessarily the blade.
katte-sagari	勝手下がり	A filing pattern in a diagonal descending towards the edge.
kinzōgan-mei	金象嵌銘	An attribution inlaid in gold on the tang by an appraiser, not by the smith himself.
kiritsuke-mei	切付銘	An attribution chiselled, not inlaid, by someone other than the smith.
machi-okuri	区送り	A shift of the machi towards the point when a blade is shortened, without touching the tempered edge.
mei	銘	The signature chiselled on the tang; it may include title, province and date.
mekugi-ana	目釘穴	The hole in the tang for the peg that holds the blade in the hilt.
mumei	無銘	Unsigned, through shortening or because it never was; attribution then rests on appraisal.
nakago	茎	The tang, never polished; its patina, file marks and signature are the blade's record.
nakago-jiri	茎尻	The butt of the tang; kurijiri, iriyamagata, kengyō and ichimonji are its typical shapes.
nengō	年号	The Japanese imperial era name used to date a signature on the tang.
ō-suriage	大磨上げ	A drastic shortening of the tang, erasing the original signature if there was one.
sujichigai	筋違い	A crossed diagonal filing pattern on the tang.
suriage	磨上げ	A blade shortened at the base with the tang reworked; very common on old blades.
taka-no-ha	鷹の羽	A herringbone filing pattern, "hawk's feather", with strokes on both diagonals.
ubu	生ぶ	An untouched, unshortened tang; valued because it keeps the original shape and signature.
yasurime	鑢目	File marks on the tang, applied before signing; the pattern is a trait of the smith.
zaimei	在銘	A blade that retains its original signature, the opposite of mumei.

Horimono: the carvings

Term	Kanji	Definition
bō-hi	棒樋	A simple, wide, straight groove, the commonest of all.
bonji	梵字	A Sanskrit syllable carved on the blade, representing a Buddhist deity.
gomabashi	護摩箸	A pair of thin, parallel grooves, like the chopsticks of a Buddhist ritual.
hi	樋	A groove cut in the shinogi-ji to lighten the blade without losing stiffness.
horimono	彫物	Carving on the blade: grooves, deities, Buddhist inscriptions or plant motifs.
kurikara	倶利伽羅	A dragon coiled around a vertical sword, an esoteric Buddhist motif linked to Fudō Myōō.
suken	素剣	A straight sword carved on the blade, a symbol of the deity Fudō Myōō.

Koshirae: the mounting

Term	Kanji	Definition
fuchi	縁	Metal collar at the guard end of the hilt.
habaki	鎺	Collar gripping the base of the blade; it locks it in the scabbard and keeps the edge off the wood.
kashira	頭	The cap closing the free end of the hilt.
koiguchi	鯉口	The mouth of the scabbard, horn-lined so the habaki seats without wearing it.
kōgai	笄	A slender skewer carried in a pocket of the scabbard, opposite the kozuka.
kogatana	小刀	The small blade housed in the kozuka, the scabbard's utility knife.
kojiri	鐺	A metal or horn fitting at the tip of the scabbard.
koshirae	拵	The complete mounting of a blade: hilt, guard, scabbard and fittings.
kozuka	小柄	Handle of the small utility knife in the scabbard; by extension, the whole knife.
kurigata	栗形	The knob on the scabbard through which the sageo passes.
menuki	目貫	The pair of ornaments held under the hilt braid.
sageo	下緒	The cord that passes through the kurigata and secures the sword at the belt.
same	鮫皮	The grainy ray skin covering the hilt under the braid.
saya	鞘	The scabbard, of magnolia wood, usually lacquered.
sayagaki	鞘書	A brush inscription on the shirasaya, written by an expert, recording the attribution.
seppa	切羽	Soft metal washers that seat the guard on either side.
shirasaya	白鞘	A plain unlacquered wooden scabbard and hilt for storing a blade without trapping moisture.
tsuba	鐔	The guard, of iron, shakudō or another alloy, often signed by its maker.
tsuka	柄	The hilt: a wooden core in two halves, covered and wrapped.
tsuka-ito	柄糸	The silk or cotton wrap of the hilt; the commonest pattern is diamonds.
tsunagi	継	A substitute wooden blade that occupies the mounting while the real blade rests in the shirasaya.

Tōsōgu: fittings and metalwork

Term	Kanji	Definition
hitsu-ana	櫃孔	Openings in the tsuba for the kozuka and kōgai to pass through.
ishime	石目	A lacquer finish with a grainy, stone-like texture.
katakiribori	片切彫り	An engraving cut with a single bevel, a technique associated with Yokoya Sōmin.
mimi	耳	The outer rim of the tsuba.
nashiji-nuri	梨子地塗	A lacquer with gold flakes suspended in the varnish, like the grainy skin of a pear.
nunome-zōgan	布目象嵌	Gold or silver inlay over a metal base cross-hatched in a grid.
roiro	呂色	Black lacquer polished to a mirror finish.
seppa-dai	切羽台	The central area of the tsuba where the seppa seat.
shakudō	赤銅	A copper-and-gold alloy patinated to a bluish black, used in fine fittings.
shibuichi	四分一	A copper-and-silver alloy with a grey patina.
sukashi	透かし	Openwork: a cut-out motif letting light or background show through the metal.
takabori	高彫り	Carving in high relief.
tōsōgu	刀装具	The metal fittings of a mounting, studied and collected in their own right.

Assessment and flaws (kantei)

Term	Kanji	Definition
deki	出来	The overall result and character of the temper, seen as a whole.
fukure	膨れ	A blister beneath the steel's surface, from a fold poorly welded during forging.
hagire	刃切れ	A crack crossing the hamon down to the edge; the most serious flaw a blade can have.
hakobore	刃こぼれ	A small nick in the edge.
jigane	地金	The overall look of the steel in the ji: colour, grain and combined activity.
kantei	鑑定	The art of attributing a blade to a smith, school, province and period from its physical traits.
kizu	傷	Any physical flaw in a blade; the general term covering ware, fukure, hagire and the rest.
nioi-gire	匂い切れ	An interruption of the nioi-guchi: a gap in the tempering line.
shinae	撓え	A fine, elongated wrinkle in the steel, caused by metal fatigue.
tsukare	疲れ	The steel's fatigue after repeated polishing; a loss of crispness in the hada and hamon.
ware	割れ	An open crack on the steel's surface.

Papers and documentation

Term	Kanji	Definition
gunto-tō	軍刀	A blade made or mounted for the Japanese army up to 1945; its value as art varies greatly case by case.
hozon	保存	The first NBTHK paper level: the blade is authentic and worthy of preservation.
jūyō tōken	重要刀剣	The third NBTHK level: an important work, above tokubetsu hozon.
kanteisho	鑑定書	The generic name for an attribution certificate, whether from the NBTHK, the NTHK or similar.
origami	折紙	The old certificates of the appraising families, chiefly the Hon'ami; they are not equivalent to modern papers.
setsumei	説明	The explanatory text accompanying a jūyō paper, with the panel's reasoned assessment.
shinsa	審査	The appraisal session in which a panel judges a blade and decides its paper.
shōwatō	昭和刀	An industrially made blade from the Shōwa era, not traditionally forged, without value as art.
tokubetsu hozon	特別保存	The second NBTHK level: a blade of notable quality in good condition.
tokubetsu jūyō	特別重要	The highest NBTHK level, reserved for a very small number of blades.
tōrokushō	登録証	The compulsory Japanese registration of the blade; required to own it in Japan and to apply for export.

Schools and periods

Term	Kanji	Definition
bakumatsu	幕末	The final decades of the Tokugawa shogunate, up to 1868; falling within shinshintō as far as blades are concerned.
gendaitō	現代刀	A blade made after 1876, and the name of the period following shinshintō.
gokaden	五箇伝	The five traditions of the kotō period: Yamashiro, Yamato, Bizen, Sōshū and Mino.
haitōrei	廃刀令	The 1876 edict banning the public wearing of swords; it marks the start of the gendaitō period.
jōkotō	上古刀	Blades from before c. 900, the mid-Heian period; generally straight and without shinogi.
kotō	古刀	Blades made before 1596, that is, before the shintō period.
shinshintō	新々刀	Blades from 1781 to 1876, with a deliberate revival of older styles.
shintō	新刀	Blades from 1596 to 1781, the period after kotō.