This is the glossary of Japanese swords, including major terms the casual reader might find useful in understanding articles on Japanese swords. Within definitions, words set in boldface are defined elsewhere in the glossary. A – thin line that runs across the temper line (hamon) to the cutting edge (ha). – regular wavy surface grain pattern (jihada). Also known as gassan-hada after the name of a school which usually produced swords of this type. B – an authentically shaped wooden (practice) sword (or other bladed weapon). – temper line (hamon) of the blade point (kissaki). (see image) (also see ko-maru) C – black gleaming lines of nie that appear in the ji. – distinctly visible mokume-hada with a clearer steel than in similar but coarser patterns. – an irregular hamon pattern resembling cloves, with a round upper part and a narrow constricted lower part. – a straight sword primarily produced during the ancient period (jokotō). Their definition as is specifically chronological, as it refers solely to ancient pre- Heian swords, unlike which refers to later swords. These ancient Japanese swords are also known as . – Commonly used as a calque for the broadest definition of (European) long swords. – either a nagakatana (due to long blade) or a naginata (due to long handle). D – in context any pair of Japanese swords of differing lengths (daitō and shōtō) worn together. – any type of Japanese long sword, the larger in a pair of daishō. Commonly a katana. F – the cutting edge (ha) of the blade point (kissaki). (see image) – tapering of the blade from the base (machi) to the point (kissaki) G – see ayasugi-hada. – swords produced after 1876. Also the name for the period in sword history from 1876 to the present day, i.e., the period that succeeded the shinshintō period. – swordsmiths summoned by the retired Emperor Go-Toba to work at his palace in monthly rotations. – the five basic styles of swords which during the kotō period were associated with the provinces: Yamashiro, Yamato, Bizen, Sagami/Sōshū and Mino. – pair of parallel grooves running partway up the blade resembling chopsticks. – a wave-like outline of the temper line (hamon) made up of similarly sized semicircles. H – the tempered cutting edge of a blade. The side opposite the mune. Also called hasaki or yaiba. (see image) – misty spots in the temper line