Shōtō
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about Japanese swords. The homophonic Shōtō (松濤:しょうとう) is the name of a mainly residential district of Shibuya ward in Tokyo.
Shōtō (小刀:しょうとう?) is a length designation for Japanese swords.
The three main divisions of Japanese blade length are:
- 1 shaku (30.3cm) or less for tantō (knife or dagger).
- 1-2 shaku for shōtō.
- 2 shaku or more for daito (long sword, such as katana or tachi.
The length is measured in a straight line across the back of the blade from tip to munemachi (where blade meets tang). Most blades that fall into the "shōtō" size range are wakizashi. However, some daitō were designed with blades slightly shorter than 2 shaku. These were called kodachi and are somewhere in between a true daitō and a wakizashi. A shōtō and a daitō together are called a daishō (literally, "big and small"). The daishō was the symbolic armament of the Edo period samurai.
