Wakizashis

The Wakizashi is one of the Japanese swords, traditionally used by the samurai. The wakizashi is a Japanese sword which differs from the katana by its size. It is shorter than the katana and is therefore less than 60cm long. Its exact size is between 30 and 60 cm.

The wakizashi was worn with the katana by the samurai. The set of the two (wakizashi and katana) constitutes the famous Daisho. 

The wakizashi could be used together with the katana but generally, it was intended for fighting in closed and narrower spaces. The two weapons were therefore complementary. The katana was used in large spaces.

This complementarity of the weapons explains why you will often find katanas and wakizashis declined on the same model, thus forming sets. The two main weapons of the samurai, katana and wakizashi, are often found on the displays. It is also common to see the tanto added to these first two blades, even smaller than the wakizashi and therefore more handy.

Traditionally the wearing of katana was linked to social status in Japan. Those whose status did not allow them to wear the katana could instead wear the wakizashi. This is why the wakizashi was considered the "people's sword".

The brands offering wakizashis are already specialized in this field. Indeed, it is the katana that the amateurs prefer above all and therefore that comes back more regularly to the catalog of the general cutlery shops.

As far as wakizashis are concerned, we can however mention Cold Steel and CS Hanwei which offer very nice models of wakizashis.

Tellknives is pleased to offer you its catalog of wakizashis.