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The lead=yes is one of the traditionally made ( ) The Development of Controversies: From the Early Modern Period to Online Discussion Forums, Volume 91 of Linguistic Insights. Studies in Language and Communication, Author Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani, Publisher Peter Lang, 2008, p. 150 The Complete Idiot's Guide to World Mythology, Complete Idiot's Guides, Authors Evans Lansing Smith, Nathan Robert Brown, Publisher Penguin, 2008, p. 144 worn by the samurai in feudal Japan. Its name refers to the practice of wearing it inserted through one's obi or sash at one's side, whereas the larger tachi sword was worn slung from a cord.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Transition of kotō, shintō, shinshintō, and gendaitō. Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Touken World
The wakizashi has a blade between in length. Wakizashi close to the length of a katana are called ō-wakizashi and wakizashi closer to tantō length are called ko-wakizashi. Wakizashi are not necessarily just a smaller version of the katana; they could be forged differently and have a different cross-section. Samurai: The Code of the Warrior, Thomas Louis, Tommy Ito, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2008 P.138
Wakizashi have been in use as far back as the 15th Samurai: The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior, Clive Sinclaire, Globe Pequot, 2004 P.87 or 16th century. Samurai: The Code of the Warrior, Thomas Louis, Tommy Ito, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2008 P138 The wakizashi was used as a backup or auxiliary sword; it was also used for close quarters fighting, to behead a defeated opponent The encyclopedia of nineteenth-century land warfare: an illustrated world view, Byron Farwell, W. W. Norton & Company, 2001 P.240 and sometimes to commit seppuku. A glossary of the construction, decoration and use of arms and armor in all countries and in all times, together with some closely related subjects, George Cameron Stone, Jack Brussel Pub., 1961 P.201 The wakizashi was one of several short swords available for use by samurai including the yoroi tōshi, and the chisa-katana. The term wakizashi did not originally specify swords of any official blade length Handbook to life in medieval and early modern Japan, William E. Deal, Oxford University Press US, 2007 P.158 and was an abbreviation of wakizashi no katana ("sword thrust at one's side"); the term was applied to companion swords of all sizes. Samurai, warfare and the state in early medieval Japan (Google eBook), Karl Friday, Psychology Press, 2004 P.78
During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate required samurai to wear Katana and shorter swords in pairs. These short swords were wakizashi and tanto, and wakizashi were mainly selected. 歴史人 September 2020. pp.42-43. The wakizashi being worn together with the katana was the official sign that the wearer was a samurai. When worn together, the pair of swords were called daishō, which translates literally as "big-little". Only samurai could wear the daishō: it represented their social power and personal honour. The Japanese sword, Kanzan Satō, Kodansha International, 1983 p.68 During this period, commoners were allowed to wear one legal-length ko-wakizashi, which made it popular for the general public to wear wakizashi. This was common when traveling because of the risk of encountering bandits. Taiho-jutsu: law and order in the age of the samurai, Don Cunningham, Tuttle Publishing, 2004 P,23 The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords, Kōkan Nagayama, Kodansha International, 1998 P.48 Wakizashi were worn on the left side, secured to the waist sash ( ). Secrets of the samurai: a survey of the martial arts of feudal Japan, Oscar Ratti, Adele Westbrook, Tuttle Publishing, 1991 P.260 It was not until the Edo period in 1638 when the rulers of Japan tried to regulate the types of swords and the social strata which were allowed to wear them that the lengths of katana and wakizashi were officially set. The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords, Kōkan Nagayama, Kodansha International, 1998 P.35
Kanzan Satō, in his book titled The Japanese Sword, notes that there did not seem to be any particular need for the wakizashi and suggests that the wakizashi may have become more popular than the tantō because it was more suited for indoor fighting. He mentions the custom of leaving the katana at the door of a castle or palace when entering, while continuing to wear the wakizashi inside. The Japanese sword, Kanzan Satō, Kodansha International, 1983 P.68
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