The Daishō as we Know it

[Cookie4Monstah]

Greetings,

 

I wanted to start a conversation about daisho swords from a historical standpoint. The samurai carried daisho for numerous reasons. Today the daisho remains as a symbol of a warrior class that once was. Can we discuss how the daisho came into existence, and what qualities are found in a "true" daisho pairing? I have done a little reading on the daisho from a classical sense. Now I am interested in hearing from the gurus on this forum. I am interested in purchasing a daisho paring for myself to display (with literature) at some point. Please feel free to message me directly as well.

 

My best,

Khalid

[Ray Singer]

Khalid, please see below 

 

https://web.archive....isho-and-daishoisnt/

[Ray Singer]

This is an example of a Daisho Token kanteisho (Tokubetsu Hozon) for a set of rokudai Tadayoshi blades that the NBTHK judged to be a daisho. 

 

[Jon]

18 hours ago, Cookie4Monstah said:

I wanted to start a conversation about daisho swords from a historical standpoint.

 It all depends if you’re coming at it from the point of view of an historian or a collector of Japanese’s art swords….it has had different means at different times..

 

1) a short  and long sword worn as a pair

2) a short and long sword with matching fittings

3) a short and long matched set of blades from the same smith as well as matches fittings

they are actually all correct definitions of Daisho and also wrong if taken in the wrong context.. for your jobbing warrior in the Muromachi period it was simply a larger and smaller sword, as this gave him a competitive edge in combat…and the idea of it having matching fittings was only for the wealthy and important…if you told him it had to be a matched pair of blades with matching fittings it may have ended badly….for your EDO samurai the Daisho was a badge of office with heavy regulations…by 1629 it was required in law for samurai and had the concept of formal Daisho as well as duty Daisho…so at that point the Daisho had moved to the concept of a short and long sword with a matched set of fittings…it’s it bit more difficult to really understand when the concept moved to it being paired blades as that’s more a art thing than a history thing….…but it did. 

 

[Matsunoki]

Have a read of this thread…..interesting exchange of views.

 

[Ooitame]

A great discussion, historical and other references, and thoughts!

 

[Baba Yaga]

The word became Bastardize via Commercialism and it only took a few hundred years. 

[Jon]

2 hours ago, Baba Yaga said:

word became Bastardize via Commercialism and it only took a few hundred years

That’s a pretty respectable timeframe really when you consider how quickly things like Halloween and Valentine’s Day all turned into money making nonsense as soon as they came in contact with the 20 century…..

[Baba Yaga]

About 38 years ago I dressed --up as Ninja for a Halloween party, got drunk and lost my wooden sword.  

 

 

[Jon]

42 minutes ago, Baba Yaga said:

as Ninja for a Halloween party, got drunk and lost my wooden sword.

Wooden sword…that’s a bit posh……I just had a plastic one that bent as soon as you hit something or someone with it…

[DTM72]

18 hours ago, Jon said:

Wooden sword…that’s a bit posh……I just had a plastic one that bent as soon as you hit something or someone with it…

And when you have those plastic swords, it is almost impossible to resist smacking someone across their rear end. <-- well for me it is. Especially if she is cute.

[Baba Yaga]

1 hour ago, DTM72 said:

And when you have those plastic swords, it is almost impossible to resist smacking someone across their rear end. <-- well for me it is. Especially if she is cute.

And there you go   Now that I think about it, I'm sure the Bokken was taken away from me. That wasn't one of my best ideas. 

[DTM72]

1 hour ago, Baba Yaga said:

And there you go   Now that I think about it, I'm sure the Bokken was taken away from me. That wasn't one of my best ideas. 

I know if one of my guy friends is not paying attention, or if he should bend over, you know the bootyhole is gonna get stabbed by the plastic sword or bokken.