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For other uses, see Katana (disambiguation).
Katana at Okayama Castle.
Katana at Okayama Castle. Okayama Castle (岡山城 Okayama-jō) is a Castle in the city of Okayama in Okayama Prefecture in Japan.

Katana (刀 or かたな?) is a type of Japanese sword (nihontō). A Japanese sword, or, is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. A Japanese sword, or, is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. The term is sometimes incorrectly used as a generic name for Japanese swords.

Contents

Etymology

Originally used as a general term for single-edged sword, as opposed to tsurugi (剣 or つるぎ?), which are double-edged swords, the term is now used specifically to describe nihontō that are around 70–90 cm long with a curved blade. " Tsurugi " (剣 is a Japanese word used to refer to any type of Broadsword, or various Chinese heroes' weapons or Chinese swords ( Jian " Tsurugi " (剣 is a Japanese word used to refer to any type of Broadsword, or various Chinese heroes' weapons or Chinese swords ( Jian A Japanese sword, or, is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. A centimetre ( American spelling: centimeter, symbol cm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one hundredth This is different from Chokutō (直刀 or ちょくとう?), which is a straight blade. The is a type of Japanese sword that dates back to pre- Heian times The is a type of Japanese sword that dates back to pre- Heian times

Pronounced kah-tah-nah in the kun'yomi (Japanese reading) of the kanji 刀, the word has been adopted as a loanword by the English language. are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with Hiragana (ひらがな 平仮名 Katakana are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with Hiragana (ひらがな 平仮名 Katakana A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one Language from another with little or no translation English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States As Japanese does not have separate plural and singular forms, both "katanas" and "katana" are considered acceptable plural forms in English. is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities Strictly speaking, the word "katana" only refers to the longer variants of nihontō. A Japanese sword, or, is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan.

History

The katana was mostly paired with the wakizashi or shōtō, a similarly made but smaller sword, both worn by the members of the warrior class. The (meaning "side arm" is a traditional Japanese sword with a Shōtō blade between 30 and 60 cm (12 and 24 inches with an average of 50 cm (20 inches This article is about Japanese swords The Homophonic Shōtō (松濤しょうとう is the name of a mainly residential district of Shibuya ward It could also be worn with the tantō, an even smaller similarly shaped blade. A is a common Japanese single or occasionally double edged Knife or Dagger with a blade length between 15 and 30 cm (6-12 inches The two weapons together were called the daishō and represented the social power and personal honour of the samurai. The, lit "big and small" is a Japanese term referring to the traditional weapons of the Samurai. Honor or Honour (see spelling differences) (the latter directly from the Latin word honos honoris) is the evaluation of a person's is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial Japan. although the name katana is more common it only refers to the longer swords

Ownership and trade in the United Kingdom

As of April 2008, the British government added swords with a curved blade of 50 centimetres or over in length (and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph, the length of the blade shall be the straight line distance from the top of the handle to the tip of the blade) to the Offensive Weapons Order. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Her Majesty's Government, or when the monarch is male His Majesty's Government, is the title used by the Government of the United Kingdom, based at In the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Criminal Justice Acts is a generic name for those Acts of Parliament that shape law and order in the country [1] This ban was a response to reports that Samurai swords were used in more than 80 attacks and four killings over the four preceding years. [2] Those who violate the ban would be jailed up to six months and charged a fine of £5,000. FINE was created in 1998 and is an informal association of the four main Fair Trade networks F Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International The Pound Sterling ( symbol £; ISO code: GBP) subdivided into 100 pence (singular penny) is the Currency Martial arts practitioners, historical re-enactors and people currently possessing such swords may still own. Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for Combat. "Reenactment" redirects here For the 1968 Romanian film see The Reenactment. The sword can also be legal provided it was made in Japan before 1954, or was made in Japan using traditional sword making methods. This ban currently only applies in England & Wales.

See also

Part of sword:

Further reading

References

  1. ^ The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons)(Amendment) Order 2008
  2. ^ Samurai Swords to be Banned in UK

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