page_title: Japanese swordsmithing
section_title: Decoration
hierarchical_section_title: Japanese swordsmithing / Traditional methods / Decoration
caption_attribution_description: English: Wakizashi horimono.
context_page_description: Japanese swordsmithing is the labour-intensive bladesmithing process developed in Japan for forging traditionally made bladed weapons including katana, wakizashi, tantō, yari, naginata, nagamaki, tachi, uchigatana, nodachi, ōdachi, kodachi, and ya.
  Japanese sword blades were often forged with different profiles, different blade thicknesses, and varying amounts of grind. Wakizashi and tantō were not simply scaled-down katana but were often forged without a ridge or other such forms which were very rare on katana.
context_section_description: Almost all blades are decorated, although not all blades are decorated on the visible part of the blade. Once the blade is cool and the mud is scraped off, the blade has designs and grooves cut into it. One of the most important markings on the sword is performed here: the file markings. These are cut into the tang (nakago), or the hilt section of the blade, during shaping, where they will be covered by a tsuka or hilt later. The tang is never supposed to be cleaned: doing this can cut the value of the sword in half or more. The purpose is to show how well the blade steel ages. Different types of file markings are used, including horizontal, slanted, and checked, known as ichi-monji, ko-sujikai, sujikai, ō-sujikai, katte-agari, shinogi-kiri-sujikai, taka-no-ha, and gyaku-taka-no-ha. A grid of marks, from raking the file diagonally both ways across the tang, is called higaki, whereas specialized "full dress" file marks are called kesho-yasuri. Lastly, if the blade is very old, it may have been shaved instead of filed. This is called sensuki. While ornamental, these file marks also serve the purpose of providing an uneven surface which bites well into the hilt which fits over it. It is this pressure fit for the most part that holds the hilt in place, while the mekugi pin serves as a secondary method and a safety.
  Some other marks on the blade are aesthetic: signatures and dedications written in kanji and engravings depicting gods, dragons, or other acceptable beings, called horimono. Some are more practical. The so-called "blood groove" or fuller does not in actuality allow blood to flow more freely from cuts made with the sword but is to reduce the weight of the sword while keeping structural integrity and strength. Grooves come in wide (bo-hi), twin narrow (futasuji-hi), twin wide and narrow (bo-hi ni tsure-hi), short (koshi-hi), twin short (gomabushi), twin long with joined tips (shobu-hi), twin long with irregular breaks (kuichigai-hi), and halberd-style (naginata-hi).
caption: Antique Japanese wakizashi sword blade showing the horimono of a chrysanthemum.
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