Odachi sword

Odachi Sword

One of the traditional weapons of the samurai class of feudal Japan is the Odachi which is also known as the Nodachi. In terms of weight and length, it is similar to the Chinese Miao Dao, the Spanish Espada Bastarda, as well as the Scottish Claymore. The common blade length of the odachi sword is three shaku which equates to 35.79 inches; however, there are no specific sizes given for this type of traditional Japanese sword.

Unlike the katana, the odachi that were used as weapons were not carried on the waist since these were too long; so instead, the samurai carried these in two different ways: one was on the back which was too impractical since drawing the sword from the samurai’s back could not be done immediately. The other way the samurai carried the odachi was by hand and during the Muromachi era, a follower needed to help the samurai draw the sword. Furthermore, the swordplay styles of the odachi consisted of downward chops which were unique compared to the swordplay techniques of other swords.

Purposes of the Odachi Sword

The odachi sword had various purposes and these include the following: 

The odachi swords were primarily used as a weapon and as mentioned in old texts, the odachi were used by soldiers during wars.

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The weapon was not only utilized for warfare but it was also used as an offering to a shrine or to the gods. Some odachi were offered along with a prayer to win a war, while some were simply placed in shrines since these were said to be legendary weapons from ancient myths.

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Although further research needs to be conducted to confirm the idea, we can say that the odachi has been used as an army’s symbol. Since the length of the odachi swords were impractical to use on the battlefield, it was instead used for an army’s symbol, just like flags and spears.

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Odachi swords were also used for ceremonies; this was once a trend during a certain era.

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Lastly, the odachi was also used to present the skills of a swordsmith since this was more difficult to produce due to the complicated heat treatment and quenching procedures. Additionally, the sword is polished using a different method unlike other types of swords.

Decline of the Odachi The recognition of the odachi’s importance declined after the battle between Mitsunari Ishida and Ieasu Tokugawa during the Osaka-Natsuno-Jin war of 1615; since then, the odachi has been used more often as a ceremonial piece. One reason for this is that there were no battles after the year 1615 and the other was that the shogunal government or the Bakufu government prohibited the use of long swords. The prohibited lengths varied at certain periods, reason why the odachi swords were cut down to make these shorter in order to abide to the laws. However, despite the weapon not being used practically, these were still offered to Shinto shrines and eventually became the main purpose of the sword. Since it was difficult to produce the odachi, exceptional skills were required to do so and the amazing appearance of these swords made it suitable for offering when worshipping gods.