What Are Katana Swords?
Katana swords are generally defined standard sized, moderately curved Japanese swords with a blade length greater than 60 cm, or 23 1/2 in. Katana swords are also characterized by their distinctive appearance, attributes which include: a curved, thin, single-edged blade with a circular or square guard, and a long grip, made to accommodate two hands. Katana swords have been renowned throughout their history for their beauty, sharpness, and strength.
Katana swords were often paired with a similar smaller companion swords, such as a wakizashi or tanto, an even smaller similarly shaped sword (dagger). The pairing of a katana with a smaller sword is known as the daisho. The daisho could only be worn by samurai warriors as it represented their social power and personal honor.
With a few exceptions, katana swords and the previous sword, the tachi can be distinguished from each other, only if signed, by the location of the signature on the tang. In general, the signature (mei) should be carved into the side of the nakago, which would face outward when the sword was worn. Since a tachi was worn with the cutting edge down, and the katana was worn with the cutting edge up the signatures would have been on opposite sides.
The rise in the popularity of katana swords by samurai warriors is speculated to have been due to the changing nature of close-combat warfare. The quicker draw of katana swords was well suited to combat where victory depended heavily on response times. Katana Swords further promoted this by being worn thrust through a belt-like sash (obi) with the sharpened edge facing up. Ideally samurai swords could be drawn and strike the enemy in a single lightning speed motion. Previous to the katana swords style, the curved swords had been worn with the edge of the blade facing down, suspended from a belt.
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