The katana was the Japanese sword traditionally associated with the samurai.
A katana has a curved, slender, single-edged blade and is usually worn with the edge facing upward. This position allowed a swordsman to draw and cut in one continuous movement. Its development became especially important during Japan’s later medieval period, when changing battlefield tactics favored faster sword use.
The katana is often confused with the tachi, an older curved sword normally worn edge-down. A wakizashi was a shorter companion sword, while a naginata was a pole weapon with a curved blade. Together, a katana and wakizashi formed the daisho, the paired swords associated with samurai status during the Edo period.
Although popular culture presents the katana as the samurai’s only weapon, samurai also used bows, spears, firearms, and other weapons. Sword-making involved repeated forging and careful heat treatment, but the quality of individual blades varied considerably.