A nodachi is one of the large Japanese swords to have existed. The two-handed sword when translated means “field sword“. Some scholars suggested that the definition of nodachi is an equivalent of odachi which means “large or great sword“. Confusion between the two terms has nearly synonymies “nodachi” with the very large “odachi”. Hence, the original use of the term may have been referred to any other type of long battlefield sword (daitō), including tachi. It is frequently misapplied to nay type of oversized Japanese sword.
History and functions of Nodachi
Nodachi has a similar appearance and design of a tachi. The only difference is that nodachi is significantly longer. The nodachi was carried by foot soldiers and was designed as a warfare weapon rather than cavalry and open field engagements. Nodachi in general was used in open battlefield given its inappropriateness for use indoors or close quarter encounters. They can be utilized as an effective weapon against cavalry but then they were not commonly used for this purpose. Foot soldiers would carry the sword with the flat edge against the shoulder and the fuchi, or butt of the tsuka, in the palms of the hands with the blade facing out but toward the opponent. The sword would often be thrown down or at the enemy.
Nodachi was infrequently used for several reasons:
1. Nodachi needs greater strength to be properly wielded.
2. The blade was more difficult to forge compared to a normal-sized sword.
3. The naginata or nagamaki were quite more effective for the same role on the battlefield.
When no war raged in old Japan, the sword was worn slung across the back as a symbol of status of peace. This is perhaps the most distinctive use of Nodachi because most Japanese swords namely katana, wakizashi, and tachi were worn at the waist or belt; then again it was not drawn from the back. The limitation of nodachi was more on how its size and weight made it more difficult to wield.
The length of the nodachi’s hilt differed between twelve to thirteen inches or 30 to 33 centimeters. The blade was usually around four feet long. It surpassed katana in terms of cutting capability and range largely due to its weight and size.
Over-sized weapons based on martial history have been used for training purposes. In some Chinese martial arts, Bagua Zhang conditions the martial artist how to handle a normal-sized weapon more efficiently. Japanese uses suburito or a heavy wooden sword for the same training purpose. The Kage-ryū remains to be one of the very rare schools of Japanese martial arts that train in the use of the Japanese long-sword called choken. This sword was also used by Sasaki Kojiro, a very skilled warrior and deadly with the nodachi. He is famous for dueling with Musashi Miyamoto, a skilled swordsman of the time.