[Kai Lawson]

Hey, does anyone have any measurements for the original or the reproduction of the ken in the link and photos?

https://cromwell-intl.com/travel/japan/kofun/

[Daniel Parry]

Wow that's a nice comparison the new and the old. I find the very early Japanese swords interesting. I doubt I have measurements but have quite a few Japanese sword books and happy to look through to see if they have pics and measurements of the original.

I have a few koto Japanese swords but nothing special (hozon kanteisho only). I do like them a lot though (particularly the Heian and Kamakura tachi) and used to visit the Tokyo sword museum when I lived in Japan many years ago. Unfortunately getting really good swords of the period I like costs an arm and a leg (and probably an ear and eyebrow).

D

[Kai Lawson]

I would be happy for any info you can provide on Jokoto and Koto era pieces. I’m particularly interested in early ken and warabitē-to, but would welcome work on early tachi (both ‘spellings’). I am reading a lovely paper by Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini, and the detailed cross sections and metallurgy makes me want more data. There doesn’t seem to be much available online for the warabitē-to, and as I don’t read Japanese, my study of Kofun and earlier period ken is really limited.

I think I’ll open this up to basically any pre-Kamakura nihonto. The Heian stuff is interesting in a transitional sense too. I’ve read that average early tachi (Yamato eras and a bit later) had nagasa around 60-70 cm, but sometimes longer, with warabitē-to having 35-56 cm nagasa. Are those accurate measurements, and do you have any other specs?