Chiisagatana

[Guido]

Seeing a koshirae on Aoi Art today (see attachment), I couldn't let the opportunity slip to post it here in the hope that it will put a die-hard urban legend to rest – the all too common misconception that chiisagatana 小さ刀 (often misspelled "chisagatana") stands for a sword slightly shorter than a katana (i.e. wakizashi) but mounted in a katana-sized koshirae. Kind of a make-believe katana, usually explained as a merchant or ninja sword, intended to hide the actual length of the blade. Even some seasoned collectors stick stubbornly to this nonsense .

 

Before the uchigatana came into being, shorter swords mounted differently from tachi were called chiisagatana or koshigatana 腰刀 (hip-sword). Chiisagatana, which literally means "short katana," are tantō or sunnobi-tantō mounted in a similar fashion as a katana. Another term for chiisagatana is tsubagatana 鍔刀 or "sword with tsuba," as opposed to aikuchi (“meeting mouth”), which is a tantō without tsuba.

 

Although the meaning of chiisagatana changed over the course of Nihontō history, this term was used from the Edo period on to describe tantō that had a tsuba and usually tsukamaki as well. This is a typical example:

[Stephen]

Thats some good learning here!!

[Curran]

Guido,

 

Nice little koshirae with a nice blade. Good starter package for someone, thought I would worry about a newbie properly caring for old ito like that.

 

In the Aoi Arts Japanese listing, where is the mention of chiisagatana?

At my mediocre level of reading, I would have thought they were discussing the kogatana instead of koshigatana / chiisagatana.

The English version doesn't mention it and my Japanese reading doesn't see 腰刀.

[Brian]

Thanks Guido, that's some good info there. No doubt it will be at least a month before we all forget it, and confuse the term again

Nice koshirae too. Thanks for sharing.

 

Brian

[Guido]

No doubt it will be at least a month before we all forget it, and confuse the term again

You're probably right, but now it's on record, and we can rub people's noses into it.

In the Aoi Arts Japanese listing' date=' where is the mention of chiisagatana?[/quote']They usually don't specify, and just write "koshirae".

 

Here's another – papered – example from the e-sword website (http://www.e-sword.jp):

[BMarkhasin]

Good examples Guido, thanks for posting and bringing this nomenclature issue into the spotlight -- too bad about our collective short memory.

 

Best,

Boris.

[Soshin]

Good examples Guido, thanks for posting and bringing this nomenclature issue into the spotlight -- too bad about our collective short memory.

 

Hi Guido,

 

Thanks for posting nice ninja swords... https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21861/lot/200/...

 

 

P.S. Yes I am trying to be sarcastic not sure what smilies to use.

[Gabriel L]

Guido, I can't tell you how many times I've referred back to your and Dr. T's article on koshirae. I won't soon forget that chiisagatana aren't "hidden blade wakizashi" or whatever if only for that reason. :D If anyone hasn't read that article, I strongly recommend you do…