Daito/DaiKatana Bokken

[Chow Farn]

Does anyone know where I can purchase a 'Daito / Daikatana' Bokken ?

Most sites I've looked at only offer standard length Bokken.
I'm after a 120cm + (39 shaku).

The Surburi Bokken are of the length I'm after - but I think they would be too heavy &/or too thick to handle in form work.

Last resort get a custom one made .........................

[Wookiesmurf]

You could look into something like this one: http://bokkenshop.com/eng/297.html

At that price you'd probably be better off getting a custom one, though. I added 5 cm to a TSKSR bokuto, cost me something like 350 yen extra.

[DCPan]

http://listserv.uoguelph.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9712&L=iaido-l&P=702

I got one from the Kiyota company years ago, as evidences by the thread above. They don't have a website though.

http://www.citypaper.com/bob/story.asp?id=642

California S & P had the same catalogue as the Kiyota company years ago...but I didn't find the "White Oak Bizen-O-Sori Odachi bokken" on their website.

http://californiasandp.com/

Really though, you might as well try a custom job from:

http://sdksupplies.netfirms.com/index.html

OR

http://www.kingfisherwoodworks.com/

Good luck!

[xvikingx]

I've seen super long "nodachi" bokuto for sale at Tozando. I don't know the measurments but they have normal dimensions, they're not thick and heavy like suburito. I'm sure they can be more helpful than me if you shoot them an email.

[JoDuncan]

Are they not sometimes called daito even when they are 'regular' size?

If you've been instructed to get a daito i'd double check what they mean... save you getting a specially made Odachi (nodachi?) that will cost heaps.

[NorthernKendoka]

They are called daito when they are of regular (~100 cm) length since daito only refeers to being the larger of the the two in the normal bokuto set (daisho, tachi, kodachi), not implying a extra large sword or even a special type of sword.

[Jonathan]

Anything with a "blade" over 73.66 cm is a bit much for me.
It might be interesting to get something longer as a conversation piece or a novelty item, but for my daily practice, I'll stick with something a little more conservative.

That said, I found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Ckatana, does that sound like what you are looking for?

[Oroshi]

That said, I found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Ckatana, does that sound like what you are looking for?
太刀 is tachi, not ōkatana, which sounds like a made-up word to me. If you look at the discussion page, several other people have noted the erroneous nature of the article and are pushing for its deletion.

Ōdachi (大太刀) did/do exist, as did nodachi (野太刀), nagadachi (長太刀) and chōken (長剣). But ōkatana or daikatana are not real words, as far as I can tell.

Daitō (大刀) refers, as has been mentioned, to the larger sword in a two-sword set (i.e. katana or tachi).

[Kent Enfield]

Ōdachi (大太刀) did/do exist, as did nodachi (野太刀), nagadachi (長太刀) and chōken (長剣). But ōkatana or daikatana are not real words, as far as I can tell.And these, too, are defined in context only, especially those that are variations on "big sword". My favorite line is in Takano Sasaburo's summary note about kendo kata:

太刀形七本（打太刀、仕太刀長剣）Tachi kata nanahon (uchitachi, shitachi chōken)
小太刀形三本（打太刀長剣、仕太刀短剣）Kodachi kata sambon (uchitachi chōken, shitachi tanken)

He then goes on to use ken (剣) the few times when he specifically refers to the swords. That should get pedants in a tizzy.

And at least in the Nihon Kobudo video of Ono-ha Itto Ryu, the "regular-sized sword" techniques are referred to as "ōdachi kata".