Talk:Wakizashi

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Contents 1 Clarification 2 Image Issues 3 Conflict between wakizashi and kodachi 4 Average Length 5 Other Uses For The Wakizashi 6 Fiction 7 Pop Culture 8 Where are the Japanese editors of this article?

[edit] Clarification

What is meant by the line "Its hilt is normally of a square shape, but on rare occasion it has none." a Wak with no Hilt? Do they mean no tsuba/handle guard?

[edit] Image Issues

The image ([[image:katana-wakizashi.jpg]]) is broken; it seems to be cut off partway through the file. Could the person who posted it please fix and re-upload? Brion VIBBER, Sunday, April 28, 2002

Looks great now, thanks!—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Brion VIBBER (talk • contribs) 20:12, 28 April 2002.

I love that picture. It is definitely cool despite being a weapon. Taku

[edit] Conflict between wakizashi and kodachi

The wakizashi article says that it is "quite longer" than a kodachi. Yet on the page for kodachi, it says that the kodachi is longer. I don't know which is correct, but obviously one or both is wrong (they might of course be the same size, or of varying sizes).—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 128.216.1.8 (talk • contribs) 08:18, 1 June 2005.

The kodachi is (was) a set length, depending upon certain variables such as the rank, position, and status of the wielder. Also, it's curvature is greater than that of the wakizashi and thus the measurement of it will vary depending upon the way it is measured. The wakizashi, is (was) built for a specific warrior, and so the length of its blade varied depending on the warrior it was made for. Wakizashis were also sometimes made to specifically pair a katana, and so were a set length shorter than the katana, and the katana was built for a certain warrior. The hilt or grip of a wakizashi as compared to a kodachi however, may or may not be longer. Tassadar237 06:58, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Average Length

Are we saying mean, median , mode,...?Cameron Nedland 20:16, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Other Uses For The Wakizashi

Wasn't there another use for the Wakizashi, where if the samurai were to be defeated, he would use it to disembowl himself out of shame? If this is true, may I add this to the article?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by ManVsMachine (talk • contribs) 22:43, 6 April 2006.

That was known as Seppuku. I don't see why it shouldn't be added as, as far as I know, it was the main weapon used for it and it's worth noting. Jgamekeeper 23:45, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

I went ahead and added a short sentence with a link to Wikipedia's Seppuku entry. This should work.Grendel 05:23, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

I believe that the Wakzashi was used for up-close combat; more of an indoors waepon. I am just learning about Japanese history though, so i may be wrong. also I thought the Tanto was used for seppuku. Cody Hahn 20:15, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

It all depends on the period in question. The Tanto and Tachi combination predates the Wakizashi and Katana. Different formulations for different periods.--M.J.Stanham 19:29, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

Were wakizashis ever used? I posted a similar question on the katana talk page. My understanding was that the daisho was effectively ornamental, and was adopted after warfare ended in Japan, and after the gun had already changed Japanese warfare. The way I learned it, the whole samurai image in fiction -- the bushido code, daisho, fighting to the death -- was a fantasy invented after warfare in Japan had ended. Similar to the fantasy of the cowboy and his sixgun, invented during the 20th century, or the chivalrous knights in feudal europe, invented after feudalism ended. Not that samurai didn't carry the daisho during the Edo period, but it wasn't a practical weapon. TRWBW 05:45, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Fiction

I don't think that either Fuu or Mugen in Samurai Champloo ever uses a wakizashi - both use tantō as per other sources. Jin uses a wakizashi though.

Is this much depth really needed for this article? I came here to learn about wakizashi, not some stupid cartoon.

I have to agree with your assessment. The text under the "Use in Fiction" heading is nearly as long as the actual description of wakizashi and is filled with otaku-culture arcana. The first paragraph alone makes clear its inclusion in modern Japanese visual arts. To go beyond this, with citations of specific characters and even descriptions of their respective wakizashi, is to cross the threshold into not just irrelevancy but also absurdity. If you want to rigorously document the wakizashi in entertainment, go make an article or list and put it on the site (there are precedents of this) but when you go on about Ichiro and Gin Ichimaru from Bleach, you're no longer talking about the wakizashi itself---the subject of the article---you're talking about Bleach. BAKirken 06:49, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

I half asked this question in the section above, but to put it another way, the wakizashi was mostly a fictional weapon, right? It was used 100 times more in fiction than it ever was in real life. TRWBW 06:55, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm afraid I can't speak with any real authority on the historical use or non-use of the wakizashi. If what you are saying is true (and I've heard it before from a friend), it should be worked into the article and a reputable source cited. What I contest is the inclusion of trivial details from Final Fantasy and cartoons in an unrelated encyclopedia article. Although this article has a vastly smaller scope than the katana article, it should be seen as a model in this regard. An old version ( http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Katana&oldid=15225898#In_Fiction ) contained some passing general remarks about anime but nowhere near so specific and pedantic as the stuff we had here, and this is despite the wakizashi's comparatively smaller role in modern fiction. Given enough time, though, a consensus developed that even that was too much, and it was dropped. The article Katana is all the better for the change. BAKirken 09:20, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pop Culture

Wakisashi is one of the three random moves by the Aeon "Yojimbo" in the game Final Fantasy X. Any more?

Sure, the film "The Twilight Samurai" which holds the record for most Japanese Academy Awards, climaxes in a fight betwen wakizashi (used kodachi style) and katana. TRWBW 10:22, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Where are the Japanese editors of this article?

I don't see any Japanese people contributing, this article is biased towards the white man's viewpoint.

65.97.14.167 20:55, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Could you identify areas where it is biased, and how you think it should be fixed? TRWBW 21:09, 24 October 2006 (UTC)