Samurai Weapons: Ancient Honor in Your Modern Home

The code of bushido and the weapons the ancient warriors who followed that credo wielded have become legendary throughout the world. The moment someone mentions the word "samurai" people generally envision sleek deadly blades that flash brightly in the moonlight. Others might immediately think of fantastically armored individuals battling with strange skills in the land of the rising sun. For a samurai these weapons were neither fantastic nor unusual. They were tools of the trade.

What Were Typical Samurai Weapons?

Samurai were skilled in a wide variety of weapons such as knives, guns, the bow and arrow, the spear, etc. The weapons they are most famous for is the sword. The most notable samurai weapons were their katana swords. These blades were typically masterworks of craftsmanship in the hands of an upper class warrior.

The katana was often referred to as the 'soul' of the samurai. Many would take offense if anyone but they were to touch the blade. The only exception would be granted to someone they specifically asked to bear it to them or the weapon smith that may need to fix it should it become damaged in battle.

The normally curved katana was the Japanese answer to the long cavalry sword. Typically the blade was actually shorted than most of its long sword contemporaries despite popular renderings of the blade. However the handle of the weapon would be elongated allowing for a much easier grasp with a two handed style. This made it nearly perfect as a weapon to wield on horseback.

Other notable Samurai weapons include the wakizashi, a much shorter weapon that was often worn as a side arm similar to how the ancient Norse Vikings wore their seax, the tachi, long sword, and the naginata, a type of pole arm that had a fixed sword of one to three feet in length attached to a pole shaft. Less often seen but still noted weapons are the manriki-gusari, a chain weapon with weighted ends that are either blunt or spear-like, and the tanto, short dagger.