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Traditional Japanese weapons are so many we see on television and perhaps we know only the samurai and the rest of their secret weapon, but there are various types of weapons in Japan that is still used and popular Movies and comic japanese like naruto, knight armor black and so forth.

The katana is a type of Japanese sword, also commonly referred to as a "samurai sword", and generally defined as the standard size moderately curved (as opposed to the older "tachi" style featuring more curvature) Japanese sword with a blade length of greater than 60 cm (23.6 inches).

The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance, a curved, slender, single edged blade, circular or squared guard, and long grip to accommodate two hands. It has historically been associated with the samurai of feudal Japan, and has become renowned for its sharpness and cutting ability.

Katana History
The katana originated in the Muromachi period (1392–1573) as a result of changing battle conditions requiring faster response times. The katana facilitated this by being worn with the blade facing up, which allowed the samurai to draw and cut their enemy in a single motion. Previously, the curved sword of the samurai had been worn with the blade facing down.

The length of the katana's blade varied considerably during the course of its history. In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, katana blades tended to be between 70 and 73 cm (27.6 and 28.7 inches) in length. During the early 16th century, average length was much closer to 60 cm (23.6 inches), but late in the 16th century, it was again approximately 73 cm (28.7 in).

The katana was paired most often with the wakizashi or shōtō, a similarly made but shorter sword, both worn by the members of the warrior class. It could also be worn with the tantō, an even smaller similarly shaped knife. The katana and wakizashi when paired with each other were called the daishō and they represented the social power and personal honor of the samurai.

The wakizashi is a traditional Japanese sword with a shōtō blade between 30 and 60 centimetres (12 and 24 in), with an average of 50 cm (20 in). It is similar to but shorter than a katana, and usually shorter than the kodachi ("small sword"). The wakizashi was usually worn together with the katana by the samurai or swordsmen of feudal Japan. When worn together the pair of swords were called daishō, which translates literally as "large and small". The katana was often called the sword or the long sword and the wakizashi the companion sword.

Wakizashi History
References to wakizashi use date at least back to the sixteenth century. Originally, the term wakizashi was used to mean any sword worn on the side of the main sword. Later, the term was used to denote the group of swords which were shorter than the main sword of the samurai, and as a result, wakizashi acquired the meaning of the side sword, because a side sword was shorter than the main sword by its nature.

The samurai used to wear different types of side swords or daggers; for example, chiisa-gatana or yoroi-doshi, and the term "wakizashi" did not mean any official blade length. The first usage of a wakizashi dates back to the period between 1332 and 1369. For example, Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582) wore a daishō pair of uchigatana: a katana with a wakizashi. This reflects the common practice of wearing a wakizashi as the side sword of a katana.

After the Muromachi period, the rulers of Japan tried to regulate the types of swords and the social groups which were allowed to wear them. This was to enhance the reputation, power and the class of the samurai class, who were the only social class permitted to carry the daishō. In the late Momoyama period the government passed laws which categorized the swords in accordance to their blade length. Nevertheless, there were people who openly disobeyed the laws and carried long wakizashi (ōwakizashi), which had approximately the same length as the katana. This was caused by the confusing definition of katana, wakizashi, and tantō of those times, and some townsmen and members of yakuza gangs carried such swords.

Naginata is a pole weapon that was traditionally used in Japan by members of the samurai class. A naginata consists of a wooden shaft with a curved blade on the end; it is similar to the Chinese Guan Dao or European glaive or Russian sovnya. Usually it also had a sword-like guard (tsuba) between the blade and shaft.

The martial art of wielding the naginata is known as naginatajutsu. Most naginata practice today is in a modernised form, a gendai budō called atarashii Naginata meaning "new Naginata", in which competitions are held. Use of the naginata is also taught within the Bujinkan and in some koryū schools. Naginata practitioners may wear a form of the protective armour known as bōgu similar to that worn by kendō practitioners. Wearing the bogu means using a naginata that is a mix of light oak wood shaft, with a bamboo blade habu for atarashii Naginata.

The naginata has become associated in modern Japan as a woman's weapon as it is studied by women more than men; whereas in Europe and Australia Naginata is practiced predominantly by men - this is however simply a reflection of the martial arts demographics of Europe, where there is no historical association - as there is in Japan - that naginatajutsu is for women.

Naginata History
The term naginata first appeared in the Kojiki in 712 AD and was used by Sohei warrior priests during the Nara Period, around 750 AD. It is most likely based on the Chinese Guan Dao. In the paintings of battlefield scenes made during the Tengyo no Ran in 936 AD, the naginata can be seen in use. It was in 1086, in the book Ōshū Gosannenki ("A Diary of Three Years in Ōshū") that the use of the naginata in combat is first recorded. In this period the naginata was regarded as an extremely effective weapon by warriors.

During the Edo Period, as the naginata became less useful for men on the battlefield, it became a symbol of the social status of women of the samurai class. A functional naginata was often a traditional part of a samurai daughter's dowry. Although they did not typically fight as normal soldiers, women of the samurai class were expected to be capable of defending their homes while their husbands were away at war. The naginata was considered one of the weapons most suitable for women, since it allows a woman to keep opponents at a distance, where any advantages in height, weight, and upper body strength would be lessened.

By the 17th century the rise in popularity of firearms caused a great decrease in the appearance of the naginata on the battlefield. However, the naginata saw its final uses in combat in 1868, at Aizu, and in 1876, in Satsuma. In both cases it was used by fighting women.

The kama is a traditional Okinawan and Japanese farming implement similar to a sickle used for reaping crops and also employed as a weapon. It is considered one of the hardest of Okinawan weapons to learn due to the inherent danger of training with a sharp sickle. The kama is often included in weapon training segments of karate, silat and more obscurely in some Chinese martial arts.

Kama History
Before being improvised as a weapon, the kama was widely used throughout Asia to cut crops, mostly rice. It is found in many shapes and forms in Southeast Asia and is particularly common in martial arts from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. It is also used in Chinese martial arts but not often. From one or both of these areas, the kama was brought to Okinawa and incorporated into the martial art of te (hand) and later karate (empty hand).

The kusarigama is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of kama (the Japanese equivalent of a sickle) on a metal chain (manriki) with a heavy iron weight at the end.

Though the kusarigama is derived from a farmer's scythe, and though the sickle was often carried as a weapon during the feudal era of Japan, these farmers did not carry kusarigama. Its purpose as a weapon was very obvious, so unlike a sickle, it could not be carried openly. The art of handling the kusarigama is called kusarigamajutsu.

The sai is a traditional Okinawan weapon. The basic form of the weapon is that of a pointed, dagger-shaped truncheon, with two curved prongs called yoku projecting from the handle. The ball of the handle is called the knuckle. Multiple sai are called zai.

There are many other variations on the sai with varying prongs for trapping and blocking. The monouchi or shaft of traditional sai are round, while some reproductions have adapted an octagonal central shaft. The yoku are usually symmetrical but the manji design developed by Taira Shinken employs oppositely-facing yoku in an approximation to the manji (the Japanese term for the Buddhist symbol, the swastika) from which it takes its name.

Sai History
According to Okinawan folklore, the sai began as an agricultural tool used to measure stalks, plow fields, plant rice, or to hold cart wheels in place. It may have also been an evolution from a pitchfork but evidence for this theory is limited. Before its arrival on Okinawa, the sai was already being used in several other Asian countries including India, Thailand, China, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Outside Okinawa, the sai is generally believed to have been designed as a weapon. Early evidence suggests Indonesia as the weapon's point of origin where it is said to have been developed from the trisula. The word trisula itself can refer to both a long or short-handled trident. Because the trisula was created in South Asia, another theory is that the sai originated in India and spread along with Hinduism and Buddhism. This is supported by the fact that the trisula is important as a Hindu-Buddhist symbol.

The sai eventually reached Japan in the form of the jitte or jutte, which has only a single prong. Both are truncheon-like weapons, used for striking and bludgeoning.

A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing. They are sharpened hand-held blades made from a variety of everyday items such as needles, nails, and knives, as well as coins, washers, and other flat plates of metal.

Shuriken are commonly known in the West as "fighting stars", though they took many different shapes and designs during the time they were used. The major varieties of shuriken are the bō shuriken (stick shuriken) and the hira shuriken (flat shuriken) or shaken (Car sword, also read as kurumaken, wheel shuriken).

Shuriken were mainly a supplemental weapon to the more commonly used katana (sword) or yari (spear) in a warrior's arsenal, though they often played a pivotal tactical role in battle. The art of wielding the shuriken is known as shurikenjutsu, and was mainly taught as a minor part of the martial arts curriculum of many famous schools, such as Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, Ittō-ryū, Kukishin-ryū and Togakure-ryū.

A kunai is a Japanese tool possibly derived from the masonry trowel. Two variations are the short kunai and the big kunai. It is a good example of a very basic tool which, in the hands of a martial arts expert, could be used as a multi-functional weapon. It is commonly associated with the ninja, who used it to gouge holes in walls.