Yoroi toshi
Encyclopedia
The "armor piercing or piercer" or "mail piercer"were one of the traditional Japanese swords (nihonto) that were worn by the samurai
class as a weapon in feudal Japan.
(late Muromachi
). The yoroi toshi was made for cutting (piercing) through armourand for stabbing while grappling in close quarters, it ranged in size from 20cm to 22cm but they could under 15cm, with a "tapering mihaba, iori-mune,thick kasane at the bottom and thin kasane at the top and occasionally moroha-zukuri construction".The yoroi toshi motogasane (blade thickness) at the hamachi (the notch at the beginning of the cutting edge) can be up to .5 inches thick which is a characteristic of the yoroi toshi style of tanto. The extra thickness at the spine of the blade identifies the yoroi toshi from a standard tanto blade.
Yoroi toshi were worn inside the belt on the back or on the right sidewith the hilt toward the front and the edge upward. The later also gave it the name metazashi (mettazashi, めった刺し); "right side wear".
Image:Yoroi doshi tanto 1.JPG|Antique Japanese yoroi doshi tanto, armor piercing "yoroi doshi" small sword "tanto" showing the extra thick "motogasane" (sword thickness at hamachi) which is a characteristic of the yoroi doshi style of tanto.
Image:Yoroi doshi blade thickness.JPG|Antique Japanese yoroi doshi style tanto showing the extra thick blade.
Image:Yoroi doshi blade.JPG|Antique Japanese yoroi doshi style tanto blade.
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
class as a weapon in feudal Japan.
Description
The yoroi toshi is an extra thick Japanese dagger like sword which appeared in the Sengoku periodSengoku period
The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...
(late Muromachi
Muromachi period
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...
). The yoroi toshi was made for cutting (piercing) through armourand for stabbing while grappling in close quarters, it ranged in size from 20cm to 22cm but they could under 15cm, with a "tapering mihaba, iori-mune,thick kasane at the bottom and thin kasane at the top and occasionally moroha-zukuri construction".The yoroi toshi motogasane (blade thickness) at the hamachi (the notch at the beginning of the cutting edge) can be up to .5 inches thick which is a characteristic of the yoroi toshi style of tanto. The extra thickness at the spine of the blade identifies the yoroi toshi from a standard tanto blade.
Yoroi toshi were worn inside the belt on the back or on the right sidewith the hilt toward the front and the edge upward. The later also gave it the name metazashi (mettazashi, めった刺し); "right side wear".
Gallery
Image:Yoroi doshi tanto 1.JPG|Antique Japanese yoroi doshi tanto, armor piercing "yoroi doshi" small sword "tanto" showing the extra thick "motogasane" (sword thickness at hamachi) which is a characteristic of the yoroi doshi style of tanto.
Image:Yoroi doshi blade thickness.JPG|Antique Japanese yoroi doshi style tanto showing the extra thick blade.
Image:Yoroi doshi blade.JPG|Antique Japanese yoroi doshi style tanto blade.