Kaiken (dagger)
A kaiken (懐剣?) is an 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 moves in with her husband.[5]
Orthography
Prior to modern orthographic reform the kaiken is now called Kwaiken kwaiken (pocket knife). The modern term and has no reference in historical records;[6] also called a futokoro-gatana
See also
References
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nihonto. |
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- Nihonto message board forum
- Richard Stein's Japanese sword guide
- Japan Arts Council e-book Mamori-gatana pp. 179–180
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