Alphabetical Glossary

 

ara-nie 荒沸

large or coarse nie crystals (the word “coarse” shall not be negatively interpreted in connection with ara-nie).

 

ashi 足

“legs”; thin lines of martensitic structures (nioi) running in the hamon towards the cutting edge.

 

bōshi 帽子

Patterns of the hamon in the kissaki, resulting from the heat treatment following the clay coating on the blade surface. Basically, it is the hamon in the kissaki.

 

chikei 地景

Literally translated “shadows in the steel”. Brightly shining, gleaming short curvy lines of nie in the ji. Chikei is an effect of the hardening process. (They are similar in nature to kinsuji.)

 

Chōji丁子

Clove shaped pattern; elements of the hamon that resemble a cloves with a roundish upper part and a narrower lower part. There are different types of chōji.

 

chū-kissaki中鋒

Medium size kissaki.

 

deki出来

Means the overall workmanship or interpretation of a blade. It can be applied in different ways. E.g., when referring to who a hamon is hardened.

 

funbari 踏張り

This describes a strong tapering of a blade. It describes a wide blade at the machi that uniformly gets narrower towards the kissaki. Funbari is typical for Kamakura era or earlier tachi. It is a very good indication that a blade has been not shortened or very little.

 

Gunomeぐの目

A pattern of similarly sized semi-circles.

 

gunome-midare ぐの目乱れ

gunome mixed with midare pattern

 

ha刃

The cutting edge of a sword. The term can also be used for the hardened edge in general and when talking in contrast to the ji.

 

 

 

habaki 簸

Describes the metal collar used to keep the sword firmly in the scabbard. It is fitted at the machi (ha-machi and mune-machi). There are different types of habaki from one piece to two piece collars and made from different metals. Usually, they are based on copper with a a gold layer, sometimes they are only made from copper, sometimes from solid gold and occasionally with a mix of different metals.

 

habuchi刃縁

It is the border between the unhardened ji and the hardened ha. There are separate expressions to describe this border (e.g., tight, wide, bright, etc.) The shape/pattern of the habuchi is the hamon in general.

 

hada肌

Describes the visible grain pattern in the steel, showing the forging structure. It is also referred to as jihada. There exist different types of visible grain patterns (hada).

 

hakikake掃掛け

Literally sweeping; multiple tempered lines that look like the tracing of a broom on the sand; similar to sunagashi, but thinner and spilling into the ji. Hakikake can appear along the habuchi and/or in the bōshi.

 

hakiomote 掃き表

The same as omote (see omote)

 

hamon刃文

The blade pattern, produced through the heat treatment of the blade that involves the clay coating. The hamon outlines the transition between the region of harder steel with martensite at the edge of the blade and the softer steel with pearlite at the centre of the blade. 

 

horimono 彫物

A generic term for all type of engravings to be found on a blade, including grooves.

 

hoso suguha 細直刃

Narrow suguha

 

hotsure解れ

A straight pattern of nie, which makes the habuchi look like a frayed piece of cloth (also nie-hotsure).

 

iori-mune庵むね

Triangular back of the blade; it is the most common form of the mune.

 

itame hada板目肌

the forging structure, visible in the shape as irregular oval-like structures, resembling wood grain (but not in form as round burls).

 

ji地

Describes the area between the shinogi and the hamon.

 

jiba地刃

Describes the combined terms of ji and ha.

 

jihada地肌

Refers to the visible grain pattern of the forging structure of a blade. It is the same as the hada.

 

ji-nie地沸

Nie particles appearing in the ji.

 

kasane重ね

Describes the thickness of a blade.

 

katte sagari 勝手下り

file marks with slight downward slant to the right, found in both kotō and shintō blades, and in particular in Bizen blades.

 

kinsuji金筋

Literally a golden line. It is a shortish, brilliant shiny line, often curly, of nie that appears inside the hamon. Usually, one can find it near the habuchi.

 

kissaki鋒

the tip of the blade, measured from the yokote to the very hardened tip of a sword. There are different types of kissaki.

 

ko-ashi 小足

small ashi

 

ko-chōji 小丁子

small chōji

 

ko-kissaki 小鋒

small kissaki

 

ko-nie小沸

Small, tiny nie, but still visible by the eye.

 

koshizori 腰反り

Literally curvature at the waist. The centre (deepest point) of the curvature of a blade is closer to the nakago than the kissaki. It is seen in many Bizen produced swords during the late Heian and early Kamakura periods (therefore it is also called Bizen-sori). It is also the shape of many other old blades from other provinces (than Bizen).

 

 

 

 

Kotō古刀

Literally old sword. The term defines blades produced between the Heian- to the end of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, i.e., between 987 to 1596. This covers the time when fights were mostly done from horseback and long swords were carried with the cutting edge pointing downwards (tachi).

 

kozori 小反

Kozori refers to a group of Bizen swordsmiths who were active from the late Nanbokuchō- (1333-1392) to the early Muromachi period (1392-1573). These smiths did not belong to any of the main schools or whose affiliation is unclear from a modern perspective. Representative smiths were, e.g., Tsunehiro, Yoshikiyo, Yoshihirio, Hidemitsu, Nariie, Morisuke, Morihiro, Shigetsuna, Sadayasu, Morihisa, and Mitsuhiro.

 

kurijiri 栗尻

Chestnut shaped end of the nakago. Basically, it is a rounded looking end of the nakago.

 

machi 区

Notches at the base of the blade, that will stop the habaki from slipping onto the blade. The side on the cutting edge is called ha-machi. The one on the back of the blade is the mune-machi.

 

midare-ba 乱れ刃

Irregular patterns in the hamon. It comes with many varieties.

 

midare utsuri乱れ映り

Irregular utsuri pattern.

 

mihaba 身幅

Describes the width of the blade at the machi.

 

mitsu muneミツ鋒

Triangular but with three surfaces back of the blade; it is often seen on Tantō or Sōshū swords.

 

mokume 木目

It describes a forging pattern that is similar to the annual rings of a tree, looking like burls.

 

mumei 無銘

Describes an unsigned blade.

 

mune棟

The back of the blade; there are different shapes of mune.

 

nagare流れ

Meaning floating. This adjective describes a pattern in the hada, such as e.g., nagare itame, becoming more floating in appearance. So, the itame structure becomes more “floating” or “running” in its visualization. The term nagare can also be applied to other forging structures than itame.

 

 

 

nie沸

Martensite particles visible to the naked eye.

 

nijūba二重刃

Literally meaning two ha; a second habuchi line is visible in parallel and above the main habuchi. It can consist of nie or nioi and can be of various length.

 

nioi匂

Describes in principle the same martensite particles as the nie, however, they are not visible individually to the eye as single dots. They merge into a shiny band. A collection of nioi is often compared to the Milky Way.

 

nioi-guchi 匂口

Describes the border between the unhardened ji and the hardened ha. It is also called habuchi (see habuchi). A nioi guchi is made of nioi martensic structures. The border can be described in addition as tight or wide, soft, bright or dull.

 

omote 表

The generic term for front side, exterior, outside. The opposite side is called ura. With a sword, omote defines the side of the blade that shows to the outside, i.e., facing away from the body, whilst the ura side is inside, i.e., “touching” the body. (The terms omote and ura have great significance in Japan’s culture beyond Japanese swords.)

 

ō-suriage大摺上げ

Describes a greatly shortened sword. A blade is always shortened from the nakago. Most old blades from the Heian (784-1185), Kamakura (1185-1333) and Nanbokuchō (1333-1392) periods were shortened from a long tachi to a katana length. When warfare shifted from fighting from horseback to foot a shorter blade with lower curvature was technically more practical than a large blade with deep curvature. As old blades were of excellent quality, they were shortened into katana-length.

 

sakigiri

cannot find????

 

shinogi鎬

It is the ridge of a blade running on both sides of the blade from the where the kissaki ends into the nakago.

 

shinogi zukuri鎬造

Describes a blade with a longitudinal ridge (shinogi) and a transverse ridge (yokote). It is the most common form for long Japanese sword construction.

 

shintō 新刀

Literally new sword. The shape of the swords stays in principle the same as for kotō blades, but they become shorter and have less curvature. Shintō swords are defined as blades being made during the late Azuchi-Momoyama period until the second half of the Edo-Period, i.e., from 1596 to 1781.

 

suguha直刃

A hamon with a straight edge pattern.

 

sunagashi 砂雅し

Literally brushed sand. The term is used for a nie accumulation that looks like the patterns left behind from a broom brushing over sand. Sunagashi usually appears inside the hamon and in parallel to the habuchi.

 

tachi 太刀

Literally great or long sword. A tachi has a length of above two shaku (traditional Japanese measurement) or 60.6 cm and often much longer. It was worn with the cutting edge downwards on horse and had a strong curvature. With the changing of warfare, it was later replaced with the katana, that also has a length of above 60.6 cm but has much less curvature and tends to be shorter than an unshortened tachi, which often exceeds 70 cm.

 

tobi-yaki 飛焼き

Literally flying burnt elements. Roundish martensite formations in the ji that are not connected with the hamon.

 

togari 尖り

This expression of a pointed element is often used in combination with hamon shapes. Togari style patterns express a pointy feature of a specific standard pattern; for example, togari-chōji or togari-gunome.

 

 

ubu 生ぶ

Meaning original, unaltered. Ubu is mostly known in combination with an ubu nakago, an unaltered tang that has not been shortened; or one talks about, e.g., an ubu-blade i.e., a sword that has not been altered, shortened.

 

uchinoke 打除け

A nie formation that looks like a crescent moon and runs directly above and in parallel to the habuchi.

 

ura 裏

See comments for omote.

 

utsuri 映り

Literally a reflection; a band of misty area running parallel to the hamon. Utsuri can be more or less visible and appears in the ji. It is thought to be a hardening effect to counteract too soft a steel. I.e., hard areas, which are not as hard as the hamon but harder than the ji, providing a certain tortional rigidity. One could explain utsuri as surface hardening. There are different varieties of utsuri. The skills of creating utsuri got lost around 1600s (with a few smiths still being able to produce it), and could only be recently re-created by modern sword smiths, albeit one says that the appearance is not the same as in old blades predating 1600.

 

 

 

yasurime 鑢目

File marks left from finishing the nakago. Often, they are not very visible anymore on old blades. Different styles exist depending on epoch, school and swordsmith. Usually, both sides of the nakago have the same yasurime.

 

yokote横手

Describes the forged line (ridge) separating the kissaki (at a 90-degree angle towards the cutting edge) from the rest of the blade.

 

yubashiri湯走り

Literally meaning running hot water. Formation of ji-nie with a more transparent look than tobi-yaki, and no clear borders.

 

Zaimei 在銘

Describes a signed blade (opposite to mumei).

 

 

 

Source:

This glossary is based on Markus Sesko’s “Encyclopedia of Japanese Swords”, published 2014 by Lulu Enterprises, Inc.