Japanese kaiken/kwaiken style tanto.
A kaiken (懐剣) is an 8–10 inches (20–25 cm) long, single or double-bladed dagger[1] without ornamental fittings housed in a plain mount.
Uses[]
It was once carried by men and women of the samurai class in Japan. It was useful for self-defense in indoor spaces where the long blade katana and intermediate sword wakizashi were inconvenient. Women carried them in their kimono either in a pocket-like space (futokoro) or in the sleeve pouch (tamoto)[2] for self-defense and for ritual suicide by slashing the veins in the left side of the neck.[3][4] When a samurai woman married, she was expected to carry a kaiken with her when she moves in with her husband.[5]
Orthography[]
Prior to modern orthographic reform the kaiken was called a kwaiken (pocket knife);[6] also called a futokoro-gatana
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Stone, George Cameron (1999). Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications. pp. 405–. ISBN 978-0-486-40726-5. //books.google.com/books?id=J5PgapzD6FoC&pg=PA405.
- ↑ Sinclaire, Clive (1 November 2004). Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior. Globe Pequot Press. pp. 88–. ISBN 978-1-59228-720-8. //books.google.com/books?id=IQ3FAZG94ZsC&pg=PA88.
- ↑ Tarassuk, Leonis; Blair, Claude (1982). The Complete encyclopedia of arms & weapons: the most comprehensive reference work ever published on arms and armour from prehistoric times to the present. Simon & Schuster. p. 306. //books.google.com/books?id=GEGUZwEACAAJ&pg=PA306.
- ↑ Arai, Hakuseki; Joly, Henri L.; Inada, Hogitarō (1913). The Sword Book in "Honchō Gunkikō". C. E. Tuttle. p. 42. //books.google.com/books?id=2jQYnQEACAAJ&pg=PA42.
- ↑ Mol, Serge (2003). Classical Weaponry of Japan: Special Weapons and Tactics of the Martial Arts. Kodansha International. pp. 27–. ISBN 978-4-7700-2941-6. //books.google.com/books?id=ZzIXkFec0e8C&pg=PA27.
- ↑ Cannon, Garland Hampton; Warren, Nicholas W. (1996). The Japanese Contributions to the English Language: An Historical Dictionary. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 65–. ISBN 978-3-447-03764-8. //books.google.com/books?id=GiCTPPnBuHEC&pg=PA65.
External links[]
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- Minoru, Nishio (1985). Nishio Minoru, Iwabuchi Etsutarō, Mizutani Shizuo. ed (in Japanese). Iwanami kokugo jiten (3 ed.). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. pp. 155. ISBN 4-00-080003-5. //books.google.com/books?id=DxIhmwEACAAJ.
- Nihonto message board forum
- Richard Stein's Japanese sword guide
- Japan Arts Council e-book Mamori-gatana pp. 179–180
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The original article can be found at Kaiken (dagger) and the edit history here.