Daisho

[Paul_Green]

Hi

This is my current understanding, please correct me if i am wrong:

With a tachi, and the early age of the katana, samurai would wear a long sword and a tanto.

After the widespread adoption of the katana, they stopped wearing a tanto, and started to wear a wakizashi.


Why did they stop wearing the tanto?


Paul Green

[roninseb]

They did not stop wearing the tanto but most people adopted this new fashion. You would still see many people prefering to wear the tanto for many reason.

[Paul_Green]

Did anyone wear a katana, wakizashi and a tanto?
Is there any reason not to?

[roninseb]

Because this is just stupidly not logical to wear 3 blades in a obi.

[Paul_Green]

I have never tried, so im asking out of ignorace, is it really that big of a deal to wear a tanto?

[Kendoguy9]

Dear Mr. Green,

You are pretty enthusiastic about this stuff, huh?

You only have so much room around your belt once you factor in a fan, various pouches etc. you have to carry. You really start running out of room for weapons. If you're in a position where you really need a tanto (assuming your katana and wakizashi are gone or broken) you have a lot more to worry about. If you just needed a small knife (think Swiss Army knife) many katana and wakizashi were fitted with a kogatana, a small side knife. Also keep in mind many bushi would carry a tessen, an iron fan of some sort for last resort. Some bushi also carried a small kaiken or tanto in the folds of their kimono, usually without a saya for easy access. Takeda Sokaku was famous for this. This wasn't the norm, and Takeda carried his during the Meiji period when he couldn't carry a sword in the open.

Best regards,

[Paul_Green]

You are pretty enthusiastic about this stuff, huh?
Yea, i guess so :D.

Thanks for the depth, though.

Paul Green