When that section of the peasant farmers of old Japan had evolved into the shadow warriors known as the Ninja they had developed a variety of useful, practical and devastating weapons with which to practice the art of assassination and subversive attack. From “Black Eggs” to “Shurikens”, their armoury was eclectic and unique. One of the mainstays that any self respecting Ninja wouldn’t be without however, was the Ninjato, or Ninja Sword!
The sword was made with the principles of deception in mind as it had a short blade enclosed in a slightly longer scabbard. This provided a fraction of a seconds advantage when drawing the sword in battle. The sword was straight with a pointed tip for stabbing if the need arose. You had to be fast on the draw if you jumped of the roof and into the path of a wandering samurai guardsman!
This awesome blade of legend combined terrific cutting power with incredible speed in order to to deal a series of quick and deadly strikes upon an unsuspecting or slower moving enemy. The best made examples had tempered steel that could cut through armour. The ninja sword could probably cut through about four to six inches of flesh which would lead to massive blood loss and that meant Death not long after.
It is still an area of some debate whether these swords held pride of place in the life of a Ninja just as the samurai sword had for that warrior class. It is unlikely whether this was the case and most evidence seems to point to the blades being more quickly and less carefully made and therefore liable to break sooner; they existed as an entirely practical weapon to be used and replaced by another if needed. This would explain the relatively small number of good quality examples of this sword being found in modern times.