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Glossary
- Ashi 足
Lines of nie or nioi running down from the hamon towards the edge.
- Bōhi 棒樋
A straight groove along the blade. Kaki-nagashi (掻き流し): it ends inside the nakago.
- Bōshi 帽子
The hardening line in the kissaki.
- Chikei 地景
Dark, shining lines of nie within the steel of the body.
- Chōji 丁子
A hamon shaped like clove blossoms. Jūka-chōji (重花丁子): with blossoms clustered one on top of another, that of the Fukuoka Ichimonji and of the Sanchōmō.
- Chokutō 直刀
A straight sword, from before the curve.
- Gassaku 合作
A work made and signed by two smiths.
- Gunome 互の目
A hamon of repeating semicircles.
- Hamon 刃文
The pattern of the hardened edge.
- Hizukuri 火造り
Shaping the blade with the hammer, while hot.
- Honsanmai 本三枚
Construction in three pieces: core, edge and back.
- Itame 板目
A pattern in the steel like the grain of a plank.
- Jigane 地鉄
The steel of the body of the blade and its pattern.
- Jika seitetsu 自家製鉄
Steel smelted by the smith himself or his family.
- Kasane 重ね
The thickness of the blade.
- Kera 鉧
The block of steel that comes out of the tatara.
- Kissaki 切先
The point.
- Kōbuse 甲伏せ
Construction with a soft core wrapped in hard steel.
- Koshirae 拵
The complete mounting: tsuka, tsuba and saya.
- Meikiri 銘切り
Engraving the signature on the tang.
- Mokume 杢目
A pattern in the steel like the grain around a knot in wood.
- Mukansa 無鑑査
A smith exempt from selection in the NBTHK competition.
- Nagasa 長さ
The length of the blade, from the mune-machi to the point.
- Nakago 茎
The tang, which goes inside the tsuka.
- Omamori-gatana お守り刀
A small protective sword, given as a gift or kept at home.
- Oshigata 押形
A full-size drawing of a blade and its hamon.
- Sanchōmō 山鳥毛
A Fukuoka Ichimonji tachi, a National Treasure, held by the city of Setouchi.
- Satetsu 砂鉄
Iron sand.
- Shinken 真剣
A real sword, with an edge, for cutting.
- Sori 反り
The curvature of the blade.
- Sunnobi 寸延び
A tantō longer than usual.
- Tamahagane 玉鋼
Tatara steel, the kind the NBTHK distributes to smiths.
- Tanrenjo 鍛錬所
The forge, the workshop.
- Tatara たたら
A traditional clay furnace for smelting iron sand.
- Tsuchioki 土置き
Applying the clay to the blade before hardening: it determines the hamon.
- Utsuri 映り
A pale reflection in the steel, above the hamon, typical of old Bizen.
- Utsushi 写し
A work made in the manner of a famous sword.
- Yaki-ire 焼き入れ
Hardening.