In the era of cold weapons, knives and swords were widely used in major wars because of their convenience and flexibility in attack and defense. Among them, Japan is no different, and Japan's sword culture has become the proof of its spiritual civilization. Even now, on many formal occasions in Japan, people wearing kimonos still appear with knives, making people feel that Japanese swords are more like an ornament than practicality.
So how lethal was the Japanese knife in past wars? Why do some people say that suicide with a Japanese knife is a problem?
In fact, the Japanese knife is only a general term for Japanese knives, and the number of Japanese knives under its name is complex, and there are knives that are widely used in terms of length and shape. Strictly speaking, Japanese swords actually include long guns and swords, but because Japanese samurai often wear fighting knives, it is easy to ignore other broad categories of Japanese knives.
The history of Japanese swords is shorter than that of China, and at the beginning, there was no skilled calcination technology in the mainland, and most cold weapons belonged to imported products. These foreign weapons did not have a certain formula, the specifications and craftsmanship were very messy, and it was not until the end of the Heian period that Japan had a real local characteristic of the Tai dao small karasuma.
When it comes to Taido, most people will not be unfamiliar with it, and many Japanese film and television dramas, as well as light manga and games, will often see the very famous Taikō Karasuma in the Heian period.
In terms of length, the knife refers to a knife with a body of more than three feet (about 1 meter long) and less than five feet (about 1.5 meters) and a large bend. That is to say, the knife is basically a knife of more than one meter, and in terms of practicality, this knife is more suitable for use on horseback. After all, it is too long, and it is still very difficult for people with short bodies to swing every day.
There is also a knife that is very similar to the Tai Dao is the knife, the time of the knife appeared much later than the Tai Dao, after the modification, the blade is more convenient to use, and it is shorter than the Tai Dao, so the development to the back is also a knife with a relatively high rate of daily samurai wearing.
It is easy to confuse the knife and the knife, but we can distinguish between the two by the way the knife is matched and the direction of the blade. The blade of the knife is downward, and the knife is used as a counter-slash weapon for infantry, which needs to be pulled out and can be used for defense. Therefore, when the blade is facing upwards, when going to the museum, you can also distinguish between the tai knife and the knife by the direction of the blade surface.
After the end of the Heian period, the sword developed into the Kamakura period, and due to the establishment of the shogunate, the status of the samurai was greatly improved, and it was Japan that began a high cult of force.
In this context, the form and regulation of the sabre has become a symbol of status, so more knives have been born, and these knives have also developed in technology, and in the pursuit of practicality, many details of decoration have been added, which laid the foundation for the later knife tool to move towards a gorgeous and exquisite style.
Because the knife and the knife blade are very sharp, the body of the knife is light and narrow, so when it hits a hard object, it is easy to roll the blade or even break.
On the battlefield, weapons are damaged and cannot be used, which directly affects the existence of life and the problem of human life. Therefore, at this time, there is a disadvantage of the knife, in order to prevent the main weapon from being unusable and falling into danger, the best way is to add another weapon. In the worship of knives, the samurai felt that the best thing to do was to add another knife.
But you can't always hang a large knife of more than one meter on both sides, which is not only unsightly, but also very untouchable, so there is a threat.
A knife between thirty and sixty centimeters in length is a knife.
Usually used as a backup weapon, samurai would use the shoji when the knife or the knife was damaged and unable to fight, but there were also big guys who used the shodown as the main weapon. In some battles, if you despise your opponent, you can also use a spare knife - a threat.
There are also samurai who use both knives and shoji, which are called two knife streams, and because the difference between the two knives is large, it is still very powerful to use both knives very well at the same time. Miyamoto Musashi, Japan's number one, is a two-sword stream, a mythical existence.
In addition to the samurai's daily wear, this mask was also mass-produced because it was a knife that could be used by civilians. In ancient Japan, the system was hierarchical, and many ordinary people were not allowed to wear a taiko or a knife with a status symbol, but they were allowed to use the knife as a self-defense. Therefore, rangers without samurai status usually use coercion.
It is worth noting that in addition to the threat difference, there is also a short knife in the Japanese sword, which is within thirty centimeters in length and has a relatively small shape, so it is also called a sword, and we sometimes see that the samurai after wearing a double sword will insert a small knife in the belt.
Short knives are generally used in melee sneak attacks, such as the Japanese Assassins we know as well. There is also a small knife called armor, which was more popular during the Muromachi period and was specially used to break armor, so it was made very thick. The armor is usually worn on the right arm, and when approaching the enemy, it is quickly pulled out with the left hand and used.
Another use of the short knife, which everyone will not be unfamiliar with, is used to cut the abdomen.
However, the total length of the short knife is less than thirty centimeters, and the ratio of handle and blade length is 1:4, resulting in the actual position of the abdomen is not very deep, and the position of the abdomen is generally not fatal, so the samurai will not die immediately after cutting the abdomen, but can only wait for the blood to run out and slowly die. At this time, it is still necessary to match the wrong person with a long knife to end the fate of the belly cutter.
Therefore, this abdominal cutting knife is only a formal abdominal cutting, and the lethality is not obvious.
So what about the practicality of these Japanese knives on the battlefield?
From the perspective of the process of knives and knives, their main use is to deal with targets without iron armor protection, excessive pursuit of sharpness, so when encountering thicker and more cut-resistant armor or weapons, it seems to be very unused and durable. Originally, because there were not many people with knives and powerful fighting weapons, the swords in the hands of samurai were still very powerful.
However, when facing each other on the battlefield, the enemy has weapons and armor protection, and the blade that is too thin is very impractical. And too knife and knife because it is relatively long, more suitable for the knife, purposeful slashing, slashing, one-on-one advantage, in the case of the battlefield is more chaotic is not suitable for defense, attack is also difficult to have precision.
From the Edo period onwards, Japanese swords were more commonly used in the usual swordsmanship and rarely on the battlefield, and it was also from this time that the development of Japanese swords entered a period of decline, until the advent of thermal weapons, Japanese swords were fully served in rituals and swordsmanship explanations.
This is the main reason why everyone says that the Japanese sword is not suitable for battlefield combat, the practicality is indeed not high, but when the master passes the move, because the blade is long enough, it has the miraculous effect of defeating the enemy with one move.
It is said that when the originator of the Japanese sword first started using the Japanese sword, he realized that this knife was heavy and long, and it was not suitable for flexible operation, so he invented a way to defeat the enemy in one move, that is, to cut down the enemy in an instant.
This is also why Japanese swordsmanship has very high requirements for drawing swords, many kendo masters spend a lot of time learning how to draw swords, and when fighting, Japanese swordsmanship is also a reason why jumping backwards and repeatedly slashing straight attacks.
The knives used by our common Japanese samurai are also too long, so it is not easy to use them to cut the abdomen, after all, ordinary people's arms may not be able to hold a long knife of more than one meter. This will make some people think that Japanese swords are not suitable for killing enemies on the battlefield, but don't think that Japanese swords are not sharp enough.
Text/Mr. Badao
Resources:
1. "Long Talk about Japanese Swords", Yan Yong
2. "Japanese Cold Weapons and Armor Swords", Liu Dongfeng