Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 2.djvu/179

WEAPONS AND OPERATIONS Buddhism and invariably adopted as the Buddhist type, but never universally used throughout Japan; and finally, in the seventh century, an improved form of the iron single-edged blade which had preceded the Buddhist ken. According to this analysis, strictly consistent with the best evidence available, the katana came to Japan with the dolmen-builders, of whom we have already spoken in a previous chapter, and is therefore to be regarded as essentially the sword of the progenitors of a section of the present Japanese race.

A Japanese soldier carried at least two swords, a long and a short, or, in his own language, "a great and a small" (dai-shō). Their scabbards of lacquered wood were thrust into his girdle—not slung from it—and fastened in their place by cords of plaited silk. Sometimes he increased the number of weapons to three, four, or even five before going into battle, and the array was supplemented by a dagger concealed in the bosom. Only men of the military class had the right to wear two swords. A farmer or an artisan, when starting on a journey, or with special permission, might carry a short sword (waki-zashi), but any abuse of that exception involved severe punishment. This custom of wearing two swords is peculiar to Japan. The short sword was not employed in actual combat. Its use was to cut off an enemy's head after overthrowing him, and it also served the defeated 153