Samurai Figurine in Full Armor

The figurine is made of resin in 1:20 scale. The work received a distinction at the 9th Inowrocław Model Competition in 2015.

Basic swords used in Japan can be divided into two types according to their shape. Swords with a straight double-edged blade were of Chinese origin. The second type are single-edged blades with varying curvature, which are already a Japanese invention. The curvature was being obtained by appropriate heat treatment, and specifically, different cooling times for the blade and the back of the sword were being used.

The blade of such a sword was over 60 cm (23⅗ in) long. Such weapons are called katana or tachi. The katana was used on a daily basis and was being put in a belt, and the tachi was being hung from the belt and was used mainly in battle. The described method of carrying and using weapons was not an absolute rule and depended only on the samurai.

Only samurai had the right to wear the daisho, i.e. a pair of two swords.

Apart from the katana, the second one was a short sword called the wakizashi 30 cm (11⅘ in) to 45 cm (17¾ in) long. It was being put into the belt on the same side as the katana.

While, together with the tachi, it was being worn the tanto dagger up to 30 cm (11⅘ in) long.

The name daisho can only be used for sword sets manufactured between the end of the 16th century and 1876. In that year, an edict was issued prohibiting samurai from carrying weapons.

Comparing the length of the long sword and the short one in the belt, it seems that the samurai whose figure is shown in the photos uses the daisho consisting of the tachi sword and the tanto dagger.

Sources:

• https://japonia-online.pl/article/367#
• http://www.sztab.com/bron-reczna,Bro%C5%84-japo%C5%84ska,1857,2.html
• http://www.sztab.com/bron-reczna,Bro%C5%84-japo%C5%84ska,1857,4.html

21 Jul 2019