term

[John A Stuart]

Hi Guys, I am not familiar with this term. Do I read it right? 大段平 Odabira, same as shoto or wakizashi? John

[Nobody]

That usually reads Ô-dambira (大段平), which means a long Dambira.

段平 also reads Dampira or Dabira. The sound was originally Dabira-hiro, which meant a sword with wide blade.

[John A Stuart]

Thank you Koichi san. Does it refer to tanto carried before the wakizashi was developed or strictly a sugata applicable to any sword with that construction? John

[Nobody]

I do not think that the term is used for tanto, but I am not sure about that.

AFAIK, mighty shapes with O-kissaki such as swords of Nambokucho or Bakumatsu are sometimes called O-dambira. However; I could be wrong.

[Markus]

Does it refer to tanto carried before the wakizashi was developed or strictly a sugata applicable to any sword with that construction? John

 

I know this term from the descriptions of Shôsô´in blades, where 15 unmounted blades (musô-tô, ç„¡è˜åˆ€)

in hira-zukuri (one of them in kiriha-zukuri) measuring about 1,5 shaku (54,5 cm) are described as "ô-dabira" (大ã ã³ã‚‰).

As Koichi-san stated, they are very similar to Nanbokuchô ô-wakizashi in hira-zukuri and the like and rather not applied

on tantô.

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

Kanzan sensei says that (Japanese sword page 60):

 

Nanbokucho period:

 

 

The short and narrow tanto disappears, giving way to a thick, wide, curved type of companion sword called Ôdabira or Ôdanbira.

 

Maybe Odanbira is synonymous of Sunnobi

[Markus]

Maybe Odanbira is synonymous of Sunnobi

 

I think the term has not a clear definition and we should bear in mind the connotation - as Koichi-san

stated correctly - that a ô-danbira or danbira stands just for a wide/broad blade, because the term

"wakizashi" was yet not in use. So using this term is in my opinion a kind of getting out of the way not

to use an uncommon term for that time and on the other hand, don´t go down to the last detail, i.e.

describing the sword in its function "uchigatana", "koshigatana" and the like.

 

If I had to make a description, I would probably read as follows:

"Describing a wide/broad bare blade, usually in hira-zukuri, which measures from about the length of

a sunnobi-tantô up to an ô-wakizashi."

[John A Stuart]

That is where I was at, a shoto of particular style. Thank guys. John

[Jean]

http://www.sho-shin.com/naotane.htm

[John A Stuart]

Hi Jean, I see in the description terms like o-wakizashi and o-tanto are used. Supports above descriptions I guess, eh? John

[Nobody]

That is where I was at, a shoto of particular style. Thank guys. John

As I said before, I do not think so.

 

Ref. è»åˆ€èº«ã®ç ”究 (Research of the Gunto Blade) by Shibata Ka (柴田果)

http://www.k3.dion.ne.jp/~j-gunto/gunto_107.htm

刀ã®åž‹ã¨ã—ã¦ä¸€ç•ªæ–¬å‘³ã®å‹ã‚ŒãŸã‚‚ã®ã¯ã€ç›¸å·žå‚³ã®ã‚‚ã®ã§ã‚ã‚Šã¾ã™ã€‚ãã‚Œã¯ä¿—ã«è¨€ãµå¤§æ®µå¹³(ãŠãŠã ã‚“ã´ã‚‰)ã§ã‚ã‚Šã¾ã—ã¦åã‚Šæµ…ãã€èº«å¹…廣ãã€é‡ã­è–„ãã€éŽ¬é«˜ãã€éŽ¬å¹…ç‹­ãã€å¹³è‚‰å°‘ãªãã€å…ˆèº«å¹…細らãšã€åˆ‡å…ˆå»¶ã³ã€ãµãら枯れã€ã¨ã„ãµã®ãŒæŽŸã¨ãªã£ã¦å±…ã‚Šã¾ã™ã€‚

The blades of Soshu-den showed the keenest shape for cutting. The shape is vulgarly called O-dambira, whose characteristics include shallow Sori, wide blade, thin Kasane, thick Shinogi, narrow Shinogi-ji, thin Hiraniku, O-kissaki (?), and Fukura-kareru.

[John A Stuart]

OK, I get it now A very specific type of sword. Thank you. John

[Nobody]

There are brief　descriptions about Odanbira in Late Kamakura and Nambokucho Era sections.

Ref. Japanese Swords in Samurai Wiki

http://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index. ... ese_Swords

 

This shape looks like the refined one of the first stage of Kamakura, but Kissaki in this period is bigger and the center of Sori moved up. In this way, if the edge became to be thin, strength of the blade decrease. Therefore, you have to make Mihaba wide and if Mihaba become wide, Kissaki become to be bigger. The peak like this change is Odanbira in the next Northern and Southern Dynasties.

[John A Stuart]

Thanks again. John