Chokutō

The production of swords in Japan is divided into specific time periods:[https://web.archive.org/web/20201029155106/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/10024/ Transition of kotō, shintō, shinshintō, and gendaitō.] Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Touken World

• Jōkotō (ancient swords, until around 900 CE)
• Kotō (old swords from around 900–1596)
• Shintō (new swords 1596–1780)
• Shinshintō (new new swords 1781–1876)
• Gendaitō (modern or contemporary swords 1876–present)

The tsurugi was the earliest type of sword made in Japan.[https://web.archive.org/web/20121028222349/https://www.tnm.jp/modules/rblog/index.php/1/2012/10/26/%E5%87%BA%E9%9B%B2%E5%B1%95%E3%81%AB%E8%8D%92%E7%A5%9E%E8%B0%B7%E9%81%BA%E8%B7%A1%E5%87%BA%E5%9C%9F%E3%81%AE%E9%8A%85%E5%89%A3%E3%81%8C%E3%81%9A%E3%82%89%E3%82%8A/ 特別展「出雲－聖地の至宝－」展に荒神谷遺跡出土の銅剣がずらり.] Tokyo National Museum The chokutō, on the other hand, was among the earliest types of sword to be forged in Japan, its basic style and forging techniques probably originated in ancient China and Korea. The chokutō was brought to Japan by way of Korean Peninsula and China in the Han dynasty times.{{Cite book |last1=Kapp |first1=Leon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGZPvLkmP3IC&dq=china+chokuto&pg=PA20 |title=The Craft of the Japanese Sword |last2=Kapp |first2=Hiroko |last3=Yoshihara |first3=Yoshindo |date=1987 |publisher=Kodansha International |isbn=978-0-87011-798-5 |pages=20 |language=en}}

There are various types of chokutō in the Kofun period (300－538), and there are styles originated in China and styles unique to Japan.Kazuhiko Inada (2020), Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords. p30. {{ISBN|978-4651200408}} The {{nihongo||環頭大刀|kantō-tachi}} is a Chinese style, characterized by a ring-shaped ornament shaped like a dragon or a phoenix on the tip of the handle. The {{nihongo||頭椎大刀|Kabutsuchi-tachi}} is a unique Japanese style with a fist-like decoration on the tip of the handle.[https://web.archive.org/web/20220124074647/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%A0%AD%E6%A4%8E%E5%A4%A7%E5%88%80-46269 Kabutsuchi-tachi.] Kotobank. The {{nihongo||鹿角装刀剣|rokkaku-sōtōken}} is also unique to Japan and is decorated with deer antlers. As the name suggests, this style is also applied to tsurugi.[https://web.archive.org/web/20220124074616/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%B9%BF%E8%A7%92%E8%A3%85%E5%88%80%E5%89%A3-1217808 Rokkaku-sōtōken.] Kotobank.

The chokutō in various styles including these styles declined around the end of the Asuka period (593－710), and only the style called the hōtō-tachi (方頭大刀), in which the decoration on the tip of the handle was rectangular parallelepiped, survived from the Nara period (710－794).{{Cite book|url=https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BN15700384/|author=Kazuo Ichise|title=金の大刀と銀の大刀-古墳・飛鳥時代の貴族と階層-平成8年度秋季特別展大阪府立近つ飛鳥博物館図録 9 二 大刀外装の変化|pages=74–83|date=October 1996|publisher=Osaka Prefectural Chikatsu Asuka Museum}}

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. Swords of this period are classified as jōkotō and are often referred to in distinction from Japanese swords.

Chokutō as a weapon died out by the middle of the Heian period, in the 10th century. And as a weapon, it was completely replaced by the Japanese sword, which is known today for its deep and graceful curves. The first sword with this curve was called Kenukigata-tachi (:ja:毛抜形太刀), which was made by improving Warabitetō (:ja:蕨手刀) used by Emishi in Tohoku region.{{cite book|author=Shimomukai, Tatsuhiko |title=The Review of the Study of History : Shigaku Kenkyu |url=http://ir.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en/00029913|date=30 June 2000 |publisher=広島史学研究会}}{{cite book|author=John T. Kuehn |title=A Military History of Japan: From the Age of the Samurai to the 21st Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OMmUAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA34|date=15 January 2014 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=978-1-59228-720-8 |page=34}} And Kenukigata-tachi evolved into tachi, which became the mainstream of Japanese swords for a long time.歴史人 September 2020. p.6 pp.36-37. {{ASIN|B08DGRWN98}}

{{main|Sugari no Ontachi}}

File:Tamamaki-no-ontachi Sugari-no-ontachi.jpg|extra=middle}}, and {{nihongo3||金銅造御太刀|Kondō zukuri no Ontachi|extra=bottom}}, newly made for the {{nihongo3|rebuilding the shrine|式年遷宮|Sikinen Sengu}} of 1889]]

In today's Japan, straight swords made with the techniques after chokutō, are also called chokutō, and these are sometimes used in traditional ceremonies. The Sugari no Ontachi ({{Lang|ja|須賀利御太刀}}Not 大刀, but 太刀) is one of the chokutō made as an offering to Amaterasu, the main enshrined kami of Ise Grand Shrine, and one of the most gorgeous sword mountings among the chokutō. According to tradition, the building of Ise Grand Shrine and its sacred treasures have been recreated to the same specifications every 20 years since the seventh century. The Sugari no Ontachi was first described in the {{nihongo||皇太神宮儀式帳|Kotai Jingu Gishikicho}} compiled in 804, and it is believed that new decorations were added to the scabbard and sword fittings at each subsequent Shikinen Sengu (Rebuild every 20 years, 式年遷宮) to complete the design as we know it today.[https://web.archive.org/web/20221228085931/https://www.touken-world.jp/search-koshirae/kazari-long-sword-koshirae/art0002466/ 須賀利御太刀 写し (A replica of the Sugari no Ontachi).] Nagoya Japanese sword Museum Nagoya Touken World The Sugari no Ontachi currently offered to Ise Grand Shrine was remade in 2013 and is thought to have accurately inherited the style of sword mountings from the Heian period (794－1185) and the forging method from the Sinto period (1596－1781).[https://web.archive.org/web/20210625113912/http://museum.isejingu.or.jp/exhibition/761b1ow8.html 伊勢神宮の神宝 御太刀 ―宝刀の魅力―] 神宮の博物館 Jingu Museum official site.
Note:The photo on the site shows Tamamaki no Ontachi.[https://web.archive.org/web/20190503225907/http://int.kateigaho.com/cms_content/uploads/sites/4/2014/02/KIE33_06_Ise.pdf 美を継ぐ神宝―伊勢の神宮 御装束神宝調製. p.2.] 家庭画報[https://web.archive.org/web/20190504085735/https://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/arc/topics/pdf/topics_063.pdf モノづくり再生は新旧技術のコラボレーションで. p.3.] 旭化成

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File:Seven_stars_sword_Sitenoji_rotated.jpg|Shitennō-ji {{ill|Shichiseiken|lt=|ja|七星剣}}, single-edged straight sword, Asuka period

File:Hilts of Japanese straight sword Kofun period circa 600.jpg|Hilts of Japanese straight swords, Kofun period, 6–7th century, Met Museum.

File:Chinese swords Sui Dynasty top and Japanese Kofun period sword bottom about 600.jpg|Two Chinese swords (top) of the Sui dynasty. Bottom: Japanese sword with scabbard, Kofun period, 6th century, Met Museum.

File:KofunSwordHilts.jpg|Sword hilts, end of the Kofun period, Japan, 6th century. Musée Guimet.

File:Kara-tachi sword with gilded silver fittings and inlay.jpg|Kara-tachi sword with gilded silver fittings and inlay, imitation made in the 19th century, by Sōkichi Tamura.

• Japanese sword
• Tsurugi (sword)

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Category:Ancient swords of Japan

Category:Japanese sword types