Wakizashi
A wakizashi (脇差, Kanji for "side arm") is a traditional Japanese sword with a shōtō blade between 30 and 60 cm, with an average of 50 cm (between 12 and 24 inches), similar to but shorter than a katana and sometimes longer than the kodachi. The wakizashi was usually worn together with the katana by the samurai or swordsmen of feudal Japan. When worn together the pair of swords were called daishō, which translates literally as "large and small"; dai or large for katana, and shō for wakizashi. The katana was often called the sword or the long sword and the wakizashi the companion sword.
Wakizashi were made with different zukuri shapes and sizes, and were generally thinner than katana. They very often had much less niku (translated literally as "meat" or "flesh", the measure of how convex the edge is) and therefore cut softer targets much more aggressively than a katana. Its hilt is normally of a square shape but on rare occasion it had none.
A wakizashi was used as a samurai's weapon when the katana was unavailable. When entering a building, a samurai would leave his katana with a servant or page who would then let it rest on a rack called a katana-kake with the hilt pointing left so that it had to be removed with the left hand, passed to the right, then placed at the samurai's right, making it difficult to draw quickly, and reducing suspicion. However, the wakizashi would be worn at all times, and therefore, it made a side arm for the samurai (similar to a modern soldier's use of a pistol). A samurai would have worn it from the time he awoke to the time he went to sleep and slept with it under his pillow. In earlier periods, and especially during times of civil war, a tantō (dagger) was worn in place of a wakizashi. For particularly strong samurai like Miyamoto Musashi, the blade was sometimes used as an off hand weapon while the favored hand wielded the katana in order to fight with two weapons for maximum combat advantage. Contrary to popular belief, Was not the sole tool used in the ritualistic suicide act known as Seppuku. This usage was also commonly assigned to the Tanto.
Use in fiction
The attractive visuals of japanese swords and the skills of their ancient users (those users often attributed to having demi-god like powers and skills) have made the japanese sword and japanese fencing an integral part of many animated productions and video games originating in asia. As the wakizashi makes up half of a daisho, (a pair of swords: one long, one short) it appears often in the aformentioned media.
In the video game Final Fantasy X, the samurai aeon Yojimbo uses a wakizashi. Additionally, the weapon often is used in fictional works by characters that would fall into the general archetype of "stealth", (such as assassins, spies, ninjas,etc). This is largely due to the real life usefulness of the weapon in close quarters and its ability to be concealed, along with the historical use of the weapon for stealth related uses.
In addition, in the Japanese anime show Samurai Champloo, all three main characters (Mugen, Jin, and Fuu) all utilize wakizashi. Mugen and Jin, in fact, win some of their most crucial battles with this specific weapon.
In the manga and anime series Bleach, the character Gin Ichimaru carries a sword that is once referred to as a wakizashi, despite its ability to extend indefinitely in length.
See also
