A Japanese swor, or nihontō (日本刀 or にほんとう, lit. Japanese sword?), is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. These are categorised in several types according to size and method of manufacture. The most commonly known type is the katana, which, like the similarly formed tachi, is a single-edged and, usually, curved long sword which was traditionally used by samurai from the 1400s onwards;Wakizashi is the shorter sword; Tsurugi are double-edged long swords; Ōtachi or Nodachi are older but longer single-edged versions.