Here something I've been working on for quite some time and apparently no one had ever done japanese swords here... sword which unfortunately quite underrated and also
an actual noble warrior class (ie Samurai) sword which is a predecessor of a shorter and simpler - Uchigatana/Katana which is also a "successor" although both swords were used through Japanese history side by side as apposed to a popular believe that Uchigatana replaced the Tachi and no one had ever used it later on.... which is complete BS. sure Uchigatana was simpler and shorter hence why it was developed after Mongol Invasions of 1274 and 1281 after which Japanese warfare transitioned from primarily mounted archery and low count of armies (in Heian and Kamakura Jidai (Heian Jidai (era):794-1185/1192 Kamakura Jidai: 1185/1192-1336 numbers of Japanese armies were barely getting to thousand or so men) to brutal on foot, formational warfare with lots of conscripted soldiers drafted from peasantry class - Ashigaru (later however Ashigaru became a professional force, more so during rise of Oda Nobunaga) in which combat range became a lot closer making a dire need for a shorter swords that are also simpler to make so to arm large group of men with
a secondary weapon (Yari spear/polearm, Pikes, Yumi warbow, and eventually in 1543 Teppo matchlocks being primary weapons), however Tachi were not faced out from the usage and was used by mid to high ranking samurai (hatamoto (elite soldiers of a clan, which could be considered as guard), personal retainers, minor lords and daimyo with shogun) and just by these samurai who could afford. Often these swords were more of a status symbol but they were used in combat quite often, advantages of tachi are obvious - longer reach, its comparable to a european longsword. However in 1590's Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued a Sword hunt edict banning usage of swords for everyday personel defence for classes below samurai and eventually Uchigtana became popular among samurai in Edo period (1615-1868), after Sengoku era (which ends after sieges of Osaka of 1615) in context of self defence, BUT Tachi reappeared in Bakumatsu but it was quite a rarity at this time. (but infamous Imperial Japanese Gunto swords were based on Tachi)
what are the differences between the Tachi and Uchigatana/Katana
Tachi have a a blade length of 75 to 90 cm, tsuka (handle) could be quite deverse though it could be everything from 18 cm to 30+ cm, while blade length of Uchigatana ranges from 60 to 80 (tsuka length also varies from 18 to 30+ cm)
overall length ranging from 95 cm to 116 cm, Uchigatana being 80 to 90 cm+
Curve and taper being the main deference between the two - generally but not always Tachi are a lot more curved and at the end it tapers sligthly on a profile view where as Uchigatana are in most cases are straighter and the thickness between the spine and cutting edge is the same through all length of a blade. bare in mind there was no standartisation so Uchigatana could be same length and curveture of Tachi and vise versa due to different blacksmithing methods, skills and preference of the one who orders the sword, but with a close inspection of a profile Katana give it self out
. another and last difference is how it's worn and stored - Tachi are worn and stored with a cutting edge down and hangs to the belt via Ashi (hangers) whilst Uchigatana/Katana are inserted into the belt and a cutting edge faces upward. The signature of a blacksmith on a tachi is also placed on the side of the tang which faces outward when worn, while katana on the opposite side due to it being worn edge up
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since there are not much it at all Japanese swords feel free to use it for parts and stuff
Huge thanks to: Mr Sinny who had helped me to fix the curveture of a blade, Skibud1998 aka Stark who had drawn Shiri-zaya fur cover and last but not least Pantsu for rust on the tang! Amazing teamwork