Kaiken (dagger) - Wikipedia

A kaiken (懐剣) is a 20–25 cm (8–10 in) long, single or double-edged dagger^[1] without ornamental fittings housed in a plain mount.

Uses

It was once carried by men and women of the samurai class in Japan. It was useful for self-defense in indoor spaces where the long blade katana and intermediate sword wakizashi were inconvenient. Women carried them in their kimono either in a pocket-like space (futokoro) or in the sleeve pouch (tamoto)^[2] for self-defense and for ritual suicide by slashing the veins in the left side of the neck.^[3]^[4] When a samurai woman married, she was expected to carry a kaiken with her when she moved in with her husband.^[5]

In modern Japan, a kaiken is worn as a traditional accessory for formal kimono, such as a furisode, uchikake and a shiromuku, tucked into their obi.

Orthography

Due to pronunciation changes over time, the kwaiken is now called a kaiken;^[6] this is also referred to as a futokoro-gatana.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Stone, George Cameron (1999). Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications. pp. 405–. ISBN 978-0-486-40726-5.
^ Sinclaire, Clive (1 November 2004). Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior. Globe Pequot Press. pp. 88–. ISBN 978-1-59228-720-8.
^ Tarassuk, Leonis; Blair, Claude (1982). The Complete encyclopedia of arms & weapons: the most comprehensive reference work ever published on arms and armour from prehistoric times to the present. Simon & Schuster. p. 306.
^ Arai, Hakuseki; Joly, Henri L.; Inada, Hogitarō (1913). The Sword Book in "Honchō Gunkikō". C. E. Tuttle. p. 42.
^ Mol, Serge (2003). Classical Weaponry of Japan: Special Weapons and Tactics of the Martial Arts. Kodansha International. pp. 27–. ISBN 978-4-7700-2941-6.
^ Cannon, Garland Hampton; Warren, Nicholas W. (1996). The Japanese Contributions to the English Language: An Historical Dictionary. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 65–. ISBN 978-3-447-03764-8.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kwaiken tanto.

Minoru, Nishio (1985) [1979]. Nishio Minoru; Iwabuchi Etsutarō; Mizutani Shizuo (eds.). Iwanami kokugo jiten (in Japanese) (3rd ed.). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. p. 155. ISBN 4-00-080003-5.
Nihonto message board forum
Richard Stein's Japanese sword guide
Japan Arts Council e-book Mamori-gatana pp. 179–180

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Uses

Orthography

See also

References

External links