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Biaoju

Biāojú (鏢局)

Language: Mandarin Chinese
Source: Pleco dictionary. Old photos.

Mino-bori logo

Mino-bori (美濃彫)

Language: Japanese
Source: Michitatsu's Sōken Kishō of 1781

Mino Mitsunaka

Mino Mitsunaka (美濃光仲)

A Japanese sword fittings artist who worked in the Mino-bori style.
Jumonji yari logo

Jūmonji yari (十文字槍)

Japanese word for a cross shaped spear
Chinese repeating crossbow logo

Zhūgénǔ (诸葛弩) or "cho-ku-nu"

Chinese word for a repeating crossbow
Nakago logo

Nakago (茎 / 中心)

Japanese word for the tang of a sword
Eight immortals logo

Bāxiān (八仙), "Eight Immortals"

Eight figures from Chinese Daoist mythology.
Huyadao logo

Hǔyádāo (虎牙刀), "tiger tooth sword"

Mandarin name of a Chinese-edged weapon with a 1:1 hilt-blade ratio.
Muramasa mei

Muramasa (村正)

Muramasa (村正) was a Japanese master swordsmith, active in the first decades of the 16th century.
Mainsa dha logo

Mainsa dha

Term coined by Bell in 1907, describing a dha that by then was mainly of Chinese make.
Kuiwen logo

Kuíwén (夔紋)

Chinese decorative pattern consisting of archaic dragon motifs.
Hachiwari logo

Hachiwari (鉢割)

Language: Japanese
Origin: Old literature

Hirado Kunishige logo

Hirado Kunishige (平戸市國重)

A group of Japanese sword fitting makers working on the island of Hirado.
Musashi Taro Yasukuni logo

Musashi Taro Yasukuni (武蔵太郎安国)

A Japanese swordsmith who lived between 1650-1730.
Shihozume kitae logo

Shihōzume-gitae (四方詰め鍛え)

Japanese word for a sword construction with a high carbon edge, low carbon core, medium carbon sides and a separate back.
Honsanmai gitae logo

Hon-sanmai-gitae (本三枚鍛え)

Japanese word for a sword construction with a high carbon edge plate under a soft core, flanked by medium steel.
Sanmei gitae logo

Sanmai-gitae (三枚鍛え)

Japanese word for a sword construction with a center high carbon edge plate.
Wariha-gitae logo

Wariha-gitae / wariba-gitea (割刃鍛え)

Japanese term for a sword construction with an inserted edge made of higher carbon steel.
Hyoshigi gitae logo

Hyoshigi-gitae (拍子木鍛え)  

Japanese term for a sword construction with an edge made of higher carbon steel.
Maru gitae

Maru-gitae (丸鍛え)

Japanese word for a basic blade construction consisting of one type of steel.
Shin jugomai kobuse logo

Shin jūgomai kōbuse-gitae (真十五枚甲伏鍛え)

Japanese sword construction that is was found inscribed on some tangs.
Kobuse logo

Kōbuse-gitae (甲伏せ鍛え)

Japanese word for a sword construction with high carbon steel outer jacket around a softer core.
Kanetuhu-etuhu point of knife or sword

Kanetuhu / Etuhu

Ainu words for the point of a knife or sword.
Notak logo

Notak

Ainu word for the edge of a sharp tool like a knife.
Back of knife

Mekkashike

Ainu word for the back of a knife, or sword. Also the ridge of a mountain or house.
Makiri saya

Makiri-saya

Ainu word for the scabbard of a utility knife called makiri.
Makiri nip

Makiri-nip

Ainu word for a knife handle.
Ibehe ainu

Ibehe

Ibehe is an Ainu word for a knife or sword blade.
Nioi

Nioi (匂)

Japanese word for fine martensite crystals in the blade's temperline.
Nie logo

Nie (沸)

Japanese word for martensite crystals that form in blade under certain conditions.
Yoki wazamono logo

Yoki Wazamono / Ryō-wazamono (良業物)

Japanese term for a sword with the third highest rated cutting ability.
o-wazamono logo

Ō Wazamono (大業物)

Japanese term for a sword with the second highest rated cutting ability.
Saijo o wazamono

Saijō Ō Wazamono (最上大業物)

Japanese term for a sword with the highest rated cutting ability.
Wazamono logo

Wazamono (業物)

Japanese term for a sword that is tested to cut well.
Tametsugu signature logo

Tametsugu (為継)

A Japanese swordsmith in the Shōshū tradition.
Itomaki no tachi

Itomaki no tachi (糸巻太刀)

Japanese term for a type of tachi koshirae.
Koshirae logo

Koshirae (拵)

Japanese term for the mountings of an edged weapon.
Makiri blade logo

Makiri-ibe

Ainu word for knife blade.
Kuttom-ushbe logo

Kuttom-ushbe

Ainu word for a long knife worn in the belt.
Ainu sword logo 2

Emushi

Ainu word for sword
Ainu makiri knife logo

Makiri

Ainu word for a knife.
Kunikiyo logo

Kunikiyo (國清)

A line of Japanese swordsmiths working in Echizen.
Sukesada logo

Bizen Sukesada

A group of sword makers in Bizen, Japan, active in the Muromachi period.
Yosozaemon Sukesada

Yosōzaemon jo Sukesada (与三左衛門尉祐定)

A Japanese swordsmith from Osafune, Bizen, who lived from 1466-1542.
Yari logo

Yari (槍)

Japanese word for spear or spearhead
Kusabi-hi logo.

Kusabi-hi (楔樋)

Japanese term for an irregular hamon sometimes found on spearheads
Yajirigata yari

Yajirigata yari (鏃形槍)

Japanese for arrowhead-shaped spearhead
Uchigatana logo

Uchigatana (打刀)

Japanese word for a single-handed curved sword, the predecessor of the katana.
Command arrow logo

Lìngjiàn (令箭) or "Command Arrow"

A special arrow used to prove one's authority.
Longyuan Logo

Lóngyuān (龍渊)

The former name of Lóngquán, a famous sword-making town in China.