Chokutō

Japanese straight swords, 6-7th century, Kofun period.

The chokutō (直刀^?, "straight sword") is a type of Japanese sword that dates back to pre-Heian times. Chokutō were made in later periods, but usually as temple offering swords. Chokutō were straight and single-edged (sometimes partially double) hacking swords. That chokutō's design was originally imported to Japan from China, though seemingly most often through Korea. It is based on the archetypal Han Dynasty long straight iron sword with a ring pommel.

History

Chokutō was among the earliest in the history of Japanese swordforging. It was created before development of differential tempering in Japanese swordsmithing. Chokutō typically come in hira-zukuri and kiriha-zukuri tsukurikomi (blade styles) which make them very distinct from later tachi and katana which rarely use these forms. The distinctive feature of the chokutō is the straight blade, similar to the ancient swords found in the Three Kingdoms Period of China. Its blades are also often confused with those of shikomizue; there is little evidence to suggest that Chokutō were ever mounted as cane swords.

Though curved blades are as old as the sword itself, they did not become widespread in Asia and the Middle East until after the dominance of the Mongol Empire. Japanese warriors of the Kamakura Shogunate experienced the effectiveness and lethality of curved blades firsthand in the Mongol invasions of Japan. Rudimentary forms what would eventually become the katana and the nodachi gradually began to eclipse the chokutō in popularity as the curved blades demonstrated greater ease of handling and lethality in mounted combat.

Decline

Kofun period chokutō like other period swords relied on the weight of the blade in executing slashing rather than thrusting attacks. The advent of the Japanese katana design with its curved single-edged blade and superior metallurgy allowed for the development of specialised swordfighting techniques such as Iaidō.

Very few examples of chokutō mountings remain, although enough to reconstruct their various typologies which always followed Chinese and Korean models; this is evident in one of the last Kofun period sword types developed, the single-edged warabitetō (蕨手刀).

Gallery

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  Tsurugi or ken, a double-edged straight sword, Kofun period, 5th century. This is the earliest type of Japanese sword. It was derived from Chinese prototypes, and was in use from the 3rd to the 6th century, until the single-edge straight sword started to prevail. Excavated in Eda Funayama Kofun, Kyushu.

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  Hilts of Japanese straight swords, Kofun period, 6-7th century.

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  Two Chinese swords of the Sui Dynasty. The second one has a P-shaped scabbard mount that is said to be derived from the swords of the Sarmatians and Sassanians, and served as a prototype for the Japanese slung sword (Tachi).^[1] Bottom: Japanese sword with scabbard, Kofun period, 6th century.

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  Sword hilts, end of the Kofun period, Japan, 6th century. Musee Guimet.

See also

• Aikuchi

References

1. ^ Metropolitan Museum of Art permanent exhibit notice.