Nodachi sword

Nodachi Sword Another one of the popular and traditionally-made weapons utilized by the Japanese samurai is the nodachi. It has a Chinese cousin and counterpart in terms of its length and weight and this weapon is called the Miao Dao; its Western counterpart is (though not as similar to the nodachi like the Miao Dao) the Scottish Claymore or the Spanish Espada Bastarda. Generally, the character “dachi” in nodachi is the same as “tachi”, and this is also the mount or sword that predates the popular katana. The chi in nodachi makes use of the same character in katana and the character for “o” means something great or large. For a blade to be considered as a nodachi, its blade length should be around 36 inches which is equivalent to 3 shaku in Japanese; however, there is no exact definition of the size of this specific weapon.

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Production of the Nodachi

With how big the nodachi is, forging this huge weapon requires a lot of teamwork. Actually, creating this would require an extraordinary amount of teamwork since it is a challenging task, and making a Nodachi requires adequate and special facilities to successfully complete this. When looking at this sword, notice that it is much longer compared to the average swords around which is

why it can be quite complicated to create especially during the heating and forging process.

Heating is necessary to cover and seal the whole blade, allowing this to reach its necessary hardening temperature. This is also similar to the quenching process since a larger quenching medium is required; this is because unequal quenching can easily distort and warp the blade of the nodachi. When it comes to polishing the weapon, it is necessary for it to be hung on the ceiling or setting it in a stationary position to allow proper polishing. The nodachi is a customized weapon so the creation of this takes more time compared to the regular swords; also, it is definitely more expensive to create a longer blade yet due to the popularity and great interest of a large number of people in the ancient weapons of the Japanese, the orders for this specific type of weapon grew around the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

How the Nodachi was Utilized

Since the Nodachi was too long for a samurai to carry on their waist, they needed to sling the weapon on their back; however, this was quite impractical since it would be impossible to draw the weapon quickly in this position. Another way they transported the Nodachi was carrying it by hand but it needed to be sheathed to protect its owner; it was also said that during the Muromachi era, it was a trend for the wielders of this sword to have a follower accompany them to help draw the Nodachi. Aside from this, there was also a special type of drawing method that was taught by a man named Fumon Tanaka, allowing the Nodachi to be carried on the wielder’s waist; the method was quite simple, the technique was to pull out the sheath instead of actually drawing out the weapon and during swordplay, the Nodachi focuses mainly on producing downward slashes or cuts.