LITMIR.BIZ

A. SAKIKASANE 先重ね Thickness of the blade at the point

      B. MOTOKASANE 元重ね Thickness of the blade at its base

      C. KISSAKI NAGASA 切先長さ Length of the point

      D. SAKIHABA 先幅 Width of the blade at the point

      E. MUNE 棟 Unsharpened back surface of the blade

      F. MOTOHABA 元幅 Width of the blade at its base

      G. MUNEMACHI 棟区 Notch at the top of the tang where the mune surface begins

      H. HAMACHI 刃区 Notch at the top of the tang where the cutting edge begins

      I. FUKURA ふくら Curvature of the cutting edge within the point

      J. BOSHI 帽子 Hamon on the point area

      K. YOKOTE 横手 Line defining and setting off the point from the body of the sword

      L. KOSHINOGI 小鎬 Portion of the shinogi in the point area (above the yokote line)

      M. MITSUKADO 三ﾂ角 Spot where the yokote line, the edge of the blade, and the edge of the point meet

      N. SHINOGI MITSUKADO 鎬三ﾂ角 Spot where the shinogi, koshinogi, and yokote lines meet

      O. SHINOGI-JI 鎬地 Surface of the blade between the shinogi and the mune

      P. SHINOGI 鎬 The well-defined line running along the length of the blade at the thickest part of the sword (present on shinogi-zukuri–style blades)

      Q. JI 地 Steel surface of the sword

      R. HA 刃先 Hardened steel along the edge area

      S. HASAKI 刃先 Sharpened cutting edge of the sword

      T. NIOIGUCHI 匂口 Clearly defined visible line separating the hardened cutting edge from the softer body of the sword

      U. ASHI 足 Projections of the nioiguchi line that extend toward the edge of the blade

      V. HACHO 刃長 Straight line used to define the length of the blade

      W. SORI 反り Measure of the curvature of the sword

      X. ZENCHO 全長 Measure of the full length of the sword including the tang (hacho measurements apply to the blade only)

      Y. NAKAGO NAGASA 中心長さ Length of the nakago (tang)

      Z. MEKUGIANA 目釘穴 Hole in the tang for the mekugi (bamboo rivet used to secure the sword in the hilt)

      AA. MEI 銘 Inscription on the tang of the sword (usually the smith’s name, but often includes other information as well)

      LONGSWORD STYLES

      SHINOGI-ZUKURI 鎬造り

      A sword with a shinogi (ridge line) running along its entire length where the blade is thickest. Has a yokote line and a well-defined point.

      HIRA-ZUKURI 平造り A flat-sided blade with no shinogi and no yokote line or defined point area.

      JOKOTO or CHOKUTO 直刃

      (MOROKIRIHA-ZUKURI 両切刃造り)

       This is the oldest style of Japanese sword. It is straight, 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

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