Nagamaki

The nagamaki (長巻, literally "long wrapping") is a type of traditionally made Japanese sword (nihonto) with an extra long handle, used by the samurai class of feudal Japan.

History

It is possible that nagamaki were first produced during the Heian period (794 to 1185) but there are no known examples dating from before the mid Kamakura period (1192–1333). During the middle of the Muromachi period (1336–1573 A.D.) the nagamaki reached its peak of usage.

The famed warlord Uesugi Kenshin, daimyo of Echigo province, is said to have had a special guard of retainers armed with nagamaki.

Description

The nagamaki was a long sword with a blade that could be 2 feet or more and a handle that about equal length to the blade. The blade was single-edged and it could resemble a naginata blade, but the main difference in how the blades were mounted was that the handle (tsuka) of the nagamaki was not a simple wooden shaft as in the naginata; it was made more like a katana hilt. Even the name "nagamaki" ("long wrapping") is given by the tradition of handle wrapping. The nagamaki's handle was wrapped with leather or silk cords in criss-crossed manner, very similar to that of a katana's. The nagamaki is considered to be evolved from the extremely long nodachi or ōdachi swords that are described in fourteenth century literature and pictorial sources.