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The wakizashi (kanji: 脇差, "side inserted sword") is a traditional Japanese samurai short sword that is often used as a secondary weapon to the katana, and is great for close range combat and surprise attacks. When carried with a katana the two swords are collectively called daishō, literally meaning "big-small", with "big" referring to the katana, as the main blade, and "small" referring either to the wakizashi or the tantō as the companion blade. The term "wakizashi" did not originally specify swords of any official blade length and was an abbreviation of wakizashi no katana (Japanese: 脇差の刀, "sword thrust at one's side"); the term was applied to companion swords of all sizes. It was not until Japan's Edo period in 1638 when the rulers of Japan tried to regulate the types of swords and the social groups which were allowed to wear them that the lengths of katana and wakizashi were officially set.
The wakizashi has a blade between 12 and 24 inches (30 and 60 centimeters), with the wakizashi close to the length of a katana blade being called ōwakizashi (kanji: 大脇指, "great side inserted sword"), and wakizashi closer to the length of a tantō blade being called kowakizashi (kanji: 小脇指, "small side inserted sword"). The wakizashi being worn together with the katana was the official sign that the wearer was a samurai or swordsman of feudal Japan. Wakizashi are not necessarily just a smaller version of the katana; they could be forged differently and have a different cross section.
The wakizashi has been in use as far back as the 15th or 16th century. The wakizashi was used as a backup or auxiliary sword; it was also used for close quarters fighting, to behead a defeated opponent, and sometimes to commit ritual suicide. The wakizashi was one of several short swords available for use by samurai including the yoroidōshi, the chisakatana, and the tantō.
In TMNT[]
The wakizashi sometimes is depicted in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.
2012 TV series[]
In the 2012 TV series, Karai wields a wakizashi.