Tantō - 短刀
The tantō is commonly referred to as a knife or dagger. The blade is single or double edged with a length between 15 and 30 cm (6-12 inches, in Japanese 1 shaku). The tantō was designed primarily as a stabbing weapon, but the edge can be used for slashing as well. Tantō are generally forged in hira-zukuri style (without ridgeline), meaning that their sides have no ridge line and are nearly flat, unlike the shinogi-zukuri structure of a katana. Some tantō have particularly thick cross-sections for armor-piercing duty, and are called yoroi toshi. Tantō were mostly carried by samurai, as commoners did not generally wear them. Women sometimes carried a small tantō called a kaiken in their obi primarily for self-defense. Tanto were sometimes worn as the shōtō in place of a wakizashi in a daishō, especially on the battlefield. Before the advent of the wakizashi/tanto combination, it was common for a samurai to carry a tachi and a tantō as opposed to a katana and a wakizashi.
In the age before the katana, the tanto could be a samurai's best friend. In the early feudal age, when most samurai were mounted archers, the fight would rarely ever get up close and personal. However, when it did, the mounted samurai would often wrestle his opponent off his horse, then, leaping from his mount, he'd draw his tanto... the dagger would then be used to take the enemy's head. The tanto was a simple dagger fashioned after the nodachi sword. Seldom longer than 12 inches, the curved tanto would be tucked into the samurai's belt. The mounted samurai would never go into battle with this all too important weapon, which could mean life or death when coming toe to toe with a fearsome enemy.
In the age before the katana, the tanto could be a samurai's best friend. In the early feudal age, when most samurai were mounted archers, the fight would rarely ever get up close and personal. However, when it did, the mounted samurai would often wrestle his opponent off his horse, then, leaping from his mount, he'd draw his tanto... the dagger would then be used to take the enemy's head. The tanto was a simple dagger fashioned after the nodachi sword. Seldom longer than 12 inches, the curved tanto would be tucked into the samurai's belt. The mounted samurai would never go into battle with this all too important weapon, which could mean life or death when coming toe to toe with a fearsome enemy.