Kissaki

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Kissaki on a katana
Types of Kissaki

The kissaki ( Japanese 切 先 or 鋒 ) is the point ( place ) of Japanese sword blades.

description

The Kissaki is an important part of the Japanese blades, which is carefully crafted. It is separated from the rest of the blade by a clearly visible line (yokote). During the sanding and polishing process, the Kissaki is sanded separately before the final polish . The different lengths and shapes as well as the curvature of the cutting edge at the tip give the different blades their name.

The different forms of the Kissaki have the following names:

  1. Ko-Kissaki ( 小 切 先 , "small Kissaki"): The Ko-Kissaki is narrowly shaped and small in proportion to the entire blade. This shape comes from the Tachi blades that were made at the end of the Heian period and at the beginning of the Kamakura period (from around 1232).
  2. Chū-Kissaki ( 中 切 先 , "middle Kissaki"): The Chū-Kissaki is the most widely used form of the Kissaki . This form was widespread in the Kamakura period.
  3. Ō-Kissaki ( 大 切 先 , "large Kissaki"): The Ō-Kissaki appears exaggeratedly proportioned compared to the entire blade length and width.
  4. Kamasu-Kissaki ( か ま す 切 先 ): It has a strongly rounded cutting edge that is reminiscent of the head of barracudas ( kamasu ). Most of the early Kotō ( 古 刀 , "old swords") - a collective term for swords from the Heian period (from 794) to the Keichō era (from 1596) - had this form of Kissaki . If other Kissaki shapes have been preserved in swords from this period, these are the result of a reworking.
  5. Ikubi-Kissaki ( 猪 首 切 先 , "neck of the wild boar "): The length of this kissaki is always shorter than the width of the yokote . You can often see them on blades from the middle Kamakura period.

literature

  • John M. Yumoto: The Samurai Sword. A handbook . Tuttle Publishing, Rutland VT u. a. 1988, ISBN 0-8048-0509-1 .
  • Nobuo Ogasawara: Japanese swords . 12th edition. Hoikusha, Osaka 1993, ISBN 4-586-54022-2 ( Color Books 22).
  • Victor Harris: Cutting Edge. Japanese Swords in the British Museum. Tuttle Publishing, North Clarendon VT 2005, ISBN 0-8048-3680-9 .

Web links

Commons : Japanese Swords  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kōkan Nagayama: The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords. Kodansha International, Tokyo 1998, ISBN 4-7700-2071-6 , p. 56.
  2. ↑ Kōkan Nagayama: The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords. Kodansha International, Tokyo 1998, ISBN 4-7700-2071-6 , p. 226.