wakizashi; short sword
A traditional Japanese short sword, typically between 30 and 60 cm, worn by samurai as a companion to the katana. Often part of the daishō pair.
Samurai wore two swords, a long and a short one; the shorter was called a wakizashi.
I saw a beautiful wakizashi at the museum.
longer wakizashi; long short sword · gambler; gambling den regular
Standard kanji spelling for the short sword.
Variant spelling with okurigana.
Less common variant using 指.
From 脇 (waki, 'side') + 差し (sashi, 'inserting'), referring to a sword worn at the side. The reading ざし is a rendaku form of さし.