page_title: Japanese sword
section_title: Length
hierarchical_section_title: Japanese sword / Classification / Length
context_page_description: A Japanese sword is one of several types of traditionally made swords from Japan. Swords have been made from as early as the Kofun period, though most people generally refer to the curved blades made after the Heian period when speaking of "Japanese swords". There are many types of Japanese swords that differ by size, shape, field of application and method of manufacture. Some of the more commonly known types of Japanese swords are the katana, tsurugi, wakizashi, odachi, and tachi.
context_section_description: What generally differentiates the different swords is their length. Japanese swords are measured in units of shaku. Since 1891, the modern Japanese shaku is approximately equal to a foot (11.93 inches), calibrated with the meter to equal exactly 10 meters per 33 shaku (30.30 cm).
  However the historical shaku was slightly longer (13.96 inches or 35.45 cm). Thus, there may sometimes be confusion about the blade lengths, depending on which shaku value is being assumed when converting to metric or U.S. customary measurements.
  The three main divisions of Japanese blade length are:
  1 shaku or less for tantō (knife or dagger).
  1–2 shaku for Shōtō (小刀:しょうとう) (wakizashi or kodachi).
  2 shaku or more for daitō (大刀) (long sword, such as katana or tachi).
  A blade shorter than one shaku is considered a tantō (knife). A blade longer than one shaku but less than two is considered a shōtō (short sword). The wakizashi and kodachi are in this category. The length is measured in a straight line across the back of the blade from tip to munemachi (where blade meets tang). Most blades that fall into the "shōtō" size range are wakizashi.  However, some daitō were designed with blades slightly shorter than 2 shaku. These were called kodachi and are somewhere in between a true daitō and a wakizashi. A shōtō and a daitō together are called  a daishō (literally, "big-little").  The daishō was the symbolic armament of the Edo period samurai.
  A blade longer than two shaku is considered a daitō, or long sword. To qualify as a daitō the sword must have a blade longer than 2 shaku (approximately 24 inches or 60 centimeters) in a straight line. While there is a well defined lower-limit to the length of a daitō, the upper limit is not well enforced; a number of modern historians, swordsmiths, etc. say that swords that are over 3 shaku in blade length are "longer than normal daitō" and are usually referred to or called ōdachi. The word "daitō" is often used when explaining the related terms shōtō (short sword) and daishō (the set of both large and small sword). Miyamoto Musashi refers to the long sword in The Book of Five Rings. He is referring to the katana in this, and refers to the nodachi and the odachi as "extra-long swords".
  Before about 1500 most swords were usually worn suspended from cords on a belt, edge-down. This style is called jindachi-zukuri, and daitō worn in this fashion are called tachi (average blade length of 75–80 cm). From 1600 to 1867, more swords were worn through an obi (sash), paired with a smaller blade; both worn edge-up.  This style is called buke-zukuri, and all daitō worn in this fashion are katana, averaging 70–74 cm (2 shaku 3 sun to 2 shaku 4 sun 5 bu) in blade length. However, nihontō of longer lengths also existed, including lengths up to 78 cm (2 shaku 5 sun 5 bu).
  It was not simply that the swords were worn by cords on a belt, as a 'style' of sorts.  Such a statement trivializes an important function of such a manner of bearing the sword. It was a very direct example of 'form following function.'  At this point in Japanese history, much of the warfare was fought on horseback.  Being so, if the sword or blade were in a more vertical position, it would be cumbersome, and awkward to draw.  Suspending the sword  by 'cords,' allowed the sheath to be more horizontal, and far less likely to bind while drawing it in that position.
  Abnormally long blades (longer than 3 shaku), usually carried across the back, are called ōdachi or nodachi. The word ōdachi is also sometimes used as a synonym for nihontō. Odachi means "great sword", and Nodachi translates to "field sword". These greatswords were used during war as the longer sword gave a foot soldier a reach advantage.  These swords are now illegal  in Japan. Citizens are not allowed to possess an odachi unless it is for ceremonial purposes.
  Here is a list of lengths for different types of blades:
  Nodachi, Ōdachi, Jin tachi: 90.9 cm and over (more than three shaku)
  Tachi, Katana: over 60.6 cm (more than two shaku)
  Wakizashi: between 30.3 and 60.6 cm (between one and two shaku)
  Tan
caption: Four katana and one wakizashi blades from the Musée Guimet, Paris., illustrating the difference in curvature and length between the katana and the wakizashi (bottom blade).
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