Daito or not daito.

[sanjuro]

Now this is going to sound like a newbie question so bear with me.

 

Is there a definition of a daito as opposed to a katana. One sees swords variously described as daito or katana and sometimes as both.

I have always thought a daito is a tachi blade mounted as a katana. Usually it seems they do not have kogai or kozuka and are often seen in handachi mounts. On the other hand they are also validly described as katana.

I dont particularly want to get into a discussion about Edo period definitions of swords based on blade length, but is there a definition of daito that does not allow for semantics. Is it just alternative nomenclature or something more substantial?

[george trotter]

Pretty sure it is simply

Daito = big sword

Shoto= small sword

therefore we get Dai-Sho (big small).

 

Within the classification Daito are tachi, katana, uchigatana and probably lots more.

Regards,

[John A Stuart]

Daito 太刀 long sword, tachi or katana. Shoto 近刀 short sword, kodachi or wakizashi. Daisho 太近 both swords in combination. John

[george trotter]

John I think the kanji is usually "ko" (little/small) for shoto isn't it?

Regards,

[John A Stuart]

小刀 yes, sorry, I was thinking short instead of small. Actually I like short as opposed to small anyway as that can be read as kogatana. John

[sanjuro]

OK.... Now, often one sees a tsuba that has no hitsuana but is obviously (by the way the design is oriented) meant to be mounted on a sword worn as a katana, described as a daito tsuba. If the design were the other way up then it would be described as a tachi tsuba of course. With hitsu ana a similar tsuba is often designated a katana tsuba.

The above is not an absolute, but rather a frequent occurrence. Is there then a difference in tosogu nomenclature in this regard?

[Jean]

Daito= tsuba over 3 inches -after, as you mentionned, hitsuana, scarcely seen (generally added later on if any) ito maki no tachi or tachi mounts.

 

No absolute rules, you will often find tsuba under 3 inches mounted on daito.

[Ron STL]

For my own records,if a blade (daito sized sword) is signed as such, I call it a katana or tachi. If mumei, then I would call it a daito since we can't tell if it was katana or tachi. I used to go one step further on mumei swords and if Nambokucho or earlier, just call it a tachi since katana didn't exist, but it is more acceptable (in my opinion) to simply call those daito.

Ron STL

[Jean]

Unsigned, o suriage, by default, Nbthk assimilates the blade as katana, whatever the period