Talk:Characters/@comment-31.33.217.53-20150226163815/@comment-31.33.217.53-20150311201902

I (wikia contributor of the 1rst post : such a biais for Yamashiro...) thought just like Dtx2D.

As for western Swords and others... there is a lot of not as much well known Swords as the kind used in Touken Ranbu, who are praised for there excellent kireaji. And they were named, often during Edo era, when writting on the Nakago were more common.

Other Maitô could also be added, like Tachibana Dôsetsu's "Raikiri", incredibly badass sword legend who cut a thunder bolt and survived it.

And yes, their is also the Kiku Ichimonji Swords, verry famous blades. Emperor Gotoba put a lot of efforts into it in order to recover the Imperial Throne and open path of prosperity for his people. Kiku Ichimonji Swords would probably look like an Emperor in ceremonial attire, it would be beautiful, magnificent.

Other exemples include Konkaidan, Hatchô Nenbutsu Dango zashi, Asaarashi, Masse no ken, Onibôchô... most of those nicknames praise the sharpness of the sword. See Markus Sesko's blog and books for more details.

As for western Swords, their is alas few of them who are named, but even then, they are far inferior to Nihontô, despite the claims of many "katana bashing" people on YouTube. When Japanese samurai came in Europe, in the time called in Japan "Nanban boeki jidai" the sharpness of japanese Swords were praised and sung by European saying they were better than theirs. They already did that with arabian Swords, in fact, and we all know Nihontô are better than those both in cutting prowess and as martial arts weapons.

For those who can read French or ancient French :

« ... Le ses epees et dagues sont faictes en fasson de simmetterre tres peu courbe, et de moyenne longueur et sont sy fort tranchantz que y mettant un feuillet de papier et soufflant ilz couppent le papier, et encore de leur papier quy est beaucoup plus deslie que le notre et est faict de soye sur lesquels ils escrivent avec un pinceau. »

— Relations de Mme de St Troppez, octobre 1615, Bibliothèque Inguimbertine, Carpentra

Attempt of translation ( Their Swords and daggers are made like scimitar but with a lesser curve, and of average lenght. They are so sharp that if you blow a sheet of paper on it, the paper is cut. And their paper is actually sturdier than ours, made of silk, they write on it with brush. )

Few Swords in Europe were named, most japanese only know Excalibur... most Europeans too, it seems. ^^'

And as for those who were named... Joyeuse probably don't exist anymore, Excalibur is legendary (and the original legend don't come form Europe anyway but central asia, there is also chances Excalibur and Ame-no-Murakumo are in fact the same Swords but few people are aware of that theory). Durandal is a joke. Original viking Swords don't exist anymore only modern replicas. Cortana is useless in a fight. Tizona was made in damascus steel but is one handed (so it probably can't cut bones... nor iron helmets) and too long so a bit too clumsy compared to a katana. Ozman's sword is even more clumsy and useless in a fight. Few people know Szczerbiec and it is not perceived as verry representative of (western) Europe. Wallace's sword would be an odd choice. Saint Peter's sword is useless. Etc.

So in fact, most named Western Swords are jokes.

There is also the problem of the honor given to the sword for it's historical value. For exemple, if Caesar had been killed by a japanese sword in Japan, the japanese would have nicknamed the sword, but Rome's people didn't bother to nickname the dagers they used to murder the dictator.