| Ōdachi (大太刀) | |
|---|---|
%2c_%25C5%258Cdachi_forged_by_Masaie.jpg) Anōdachi forged by Sadaie, 14th century,Nanboku-chō period,Important sword | |
| Type | Sword |
| Place of origin | Japan |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Samurai,kenjutsu,iaido practitioners |
| Production history | |
| Produced | Kamakura period (1185－1333) to present[1][2] |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 2.2–14.5 kg (4.9–32.0 lb)[3] |
| Blade length | approx. 90.9 cm (35.8 in) (3shaku)–226.7 cm (89.3 in) (7shaku, 5sun)[3] |
| Blade type | Curved, single-edged[3] |
| Hilt type | Two-handed swept, with circular or squared guard. Material: wood, metal, ivory, fish skin, silk |
| Scabbard/sheath | Lacquered wood |
Anōdachi (大太刀, large/great sword) ornodachi (野太刀, field sword)[4][5][6] is a type of traditionally madeJapanese sword (日本刀,nihontō)[7][8] used by thesamurai class of feudal Japan. The Chinese equivalent of this type of sword in terms of weight and length is themiaodao or the earlierzhanmadao, and the Western battlefield equivalent (though less similar) is theZweihänder.
To qualify as anōdachi, the sword in question would have ablade length of around 3shaku (90.9 cm (35.8 in)). However, as with most terms in Japanese sword arts, there is no exact definition of the size of anōdachi.
The character forō (大) means "big" or "great";no (野) means "field". Thedachi here(太刀) is simply the voiced compounding version of the termtachi (太刀,great sword), the older style of sword that predates thekatana. The second character intachi,刀, is theChinese character for "blade" (see alsodāo), and is also the same character used to spellkatana (刀) and thetō innihontō (日本刀 "Japanese sword").
The wordtachi itself is derived as the stem or noun form of verbtatsu (断つ; "to cut off"). Thekanji spelling is an example ofjukujikun, applying a semantically based kanji spelling without regard to the usual phonetic values of the characters.
Ōdachi became popular inKamakura period (1185－1333). Until the middle of the Kamakura period, high-ranking samurai mainly fought on horseback withyumi (bows), but as group battles by foot soldiers increased from the late Kamakura period, the importance of weapons possessed by those who did not have horses and did not have sufficient training in bows increased. Until then, they mainly usednaginata with a long handle, but they also started to useōdachi. The Kamakura period was the first time that samurai ruled Japan, and powerful men were valued, and those who wanted to show off the honor of being a warrior preferred to useōdachi.[1][2]
In theNanboku-chō period in the 14th century, huge Japanese swords such asōdachi were at their peak. The reason for this is thought to be that the conditions for making a practical large-sized sword were established due to the nationwide spread of strong and sharp swords of theSōshū school. In the case ofōdachi whose blade was 150 cm (59 in) long, it was impossible to draw a sword from thescabbard on the waist, so people carried it on their back or had their servants carry it. Large naginata andkanabō were also popular in this period.[9] However, infantry units gradually came to be equipped withyari (spears) in addition tonaginata, and becauseōdachi was disadvantageous for mountain battles and surprise attacks, and only a few powerful men could use it effectively, this trend ended for a short time.[2] Furthermore, from theSengoku period in the latter part of theMuromachi period to theAzuchi-Momoyama period, as tactics shifted to fighting withyari andtanegashima (guns) by a large group of infantry,ōdachi became even more obsolete. Asōdachi became useless, it was often replaced with atachi andkatana.[10]
Even so,sengoku-daimyo in the Sengoku period dared to equip their own troops withōdachi in order to show off their strength and bravery.Uesugi Kenshin had men more than sixshaku (approx. 182 cm (72 in)) tall equipped with anōdachi guard around his horse. TheAsakura clan made a troop calledRikishizei (力士勢) equip with an ōdachi with a blade length of 5shaku (approx. 152 cm (60 in)), and fought well against the troop ofOda Nobunaga in theBattle of Anegawa.[1]
The ōdachi was used as a weapon, but because of its magnificent appearance, it was often used as an offering tokami, aShinto shrine. For example,Ōyamazumi Shrine, which is said to be a treasure house of Japanese swords and armor, is dedicated to the national treasure Ōdachi, which was dedicated byEmperor Go-Murakami, and ōdachi, which was dedicated by Ōmori Naoharu and killedKusunoki Masashige.[12]
In the peacefulEdo period,ōdachi was no longer regarded as a practical weapon and came to be recognized only as an offering to the kami of Shinto shrines.
According to the historical bookWakan Shuyo (和翰集要), thenodachi (野太刀) had a blade length of 3shaku (traditional Japanese feet) and 9sun (traditional Japanese inches; approx. 148 cm (58 in)) andōdachi had a blade length of 3shaku 3sun (approx. 125 cm (49 in)), but in fact, they were not strictly distinguished betweennodachi andōdachi, and it is thought that the termōdachi indicated a longtachi, and the termnodachi indicated anōdachi used in field battles[1] (in keeping with the name, since the initialno (野) literally means "field").
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Ōdachi are difficult to produce because their length makes traditionalheat treatment more complicated: The longer a blade is, the more difficult (and expensive) it is to heat the whole blade to a homogeneous temperature, both forannealing and to reach thehardening temperature. Thequenching process then needs a bigger quenching medium because uneven quenching might lead to warping the blade.
The method of polishing is also different. Because of their size, ōdachi are usually hung from the ceiling or placed in a stationary position to be polished, unlike normal swords which are moved over polishing stones.
As battlefield weapons, ōdachi were too long forsamurai to carry on their waists like normal swords. There were two main methods in which they could be carried.One was to carry it on one's back and unsheathe before battle starts. The other method was simply to carry the sheathed ōdachi by hand. The trend during theMuromachi era was for the samurai carrying the ōdachi to have a follower to help draw it.[9]
An exception does exist, though. TheKōden Enshin-ryū taught byFumon Tanaka use a special drawing technique for "short" ōdachi allowing it to be carried on the waist. The technique is to pull out the sheath rather than drawing the blade. While this move is also used in other schools, for example,Yagyū Shinkage-ryū,Shin musō Hayashizaki-ryū andIaidō, only Enshin-ryū seems to have used it to improve the drawing speed of an ōdachi, the other schools having used it with classical katana. TheKage-ryū style is also used to draw from the belt, using blades of approximately 2.8 shaku (84.9 cm (33.4 in).
Ōdachi swordplay styles differed from that of other Japanese swords, focusing on downward cuts.
One possible use of ōdachi is as large anti-cavalry weapons, to strike down the horse as it approaches. Alternatively, it could be used as a cavalry-on-cavalry weapon comparable to the Chinesezhanmadao, with the long reach, increased weight and slashing area of the blade offering some advantages over spears, lances, and smaller swords.
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One of the longestōdachi is theOdachi Norimitsu, with a total length of 377 cm (148 in).[3] It was forged by the Japanese master bladesmith Norimitsu Osafune in the formerBishū province in August 1446.[3] It is kept in theYahiko jinja (弥彦神社) inthe village of Yahiko, Nishikanbara District, Niigata Prefecture, Japan.[3] A special attribute is that this blade was forged from one piece, similarly to the conventional Japanesekatana;[3] it was not forged from multiple pieces or sections.[3] This required the skill of a master bladesmith.[3] The blade,hada, andhamon are authentic.[3] Thisōdachi has abo-hi (fuller).[3] Norimitsu was a famous line of swordsmiths that began in theOei Bizen school (1394) and continued until the end of Bizen.[3] Around 2000, it was polished and named "Kibitsu maru" by the priest ofKibitsu Shrine inOkayama Prefecture.[3]
These are the specifications of theŌdachi Norimitsu.[3]
The longest knownōdachi is theHaja-no-Ontachi (Great Evil-Crushing Blade).[13] Its length is 465 cm (183 in) with an overall weight of 75 kg (165 lb).[13] In 1859, thisōdachi was donated to the Hanaoka Hachiman Shrine inYamaguchi during an imperial memorial ceremony by parishioners who sympathized with imperial patriots.[13] It is kept in the Treasure House which is not open to the public.[13]
