A tsuba is usually a round or occasionally squarish guard at the end of the grip of bladed Japanese weapons, like the katana and its various declinations (tachi, wakizashi etc.), tanto, or naginata. They...
Cutting edge up A katana is displayed edge up on a horizontal stand, which comes from a samurai wearing his katana edge up and on his left side, so that he can draw his katana with his right hand and cut...
Tanto represents a weapon with single-edged blade and a curved shape. It was designed for soft targets and was considered a hidden weapon of the samurai. Tanto was extremely effective in close fighting. The...