I may have missed the discussion somewhere, so forgive me if I did.

Can someone explain how a wakizashi is concealable? I mean, where exactly do you stick a weapon with a blade that is historically 12-24 inches (30-60cm) long plus the hilt? Something that size is not easily concealable. Want to try it out? Go buy a machete and see if you can walk down the street without anyone seeing it. A machete is the closest modern tool I could think of.

On 10/8/2017 at 7:38 AM, GrimRedBen said:

I may have missed the discussion somewhere, so forgive me if I did.

Can someone explain how a wakizashi is concealable? I mean, where exactly do you stick a weapon with a blade that is historically 12-24 inches (30-60cm) long plus the hilt? Something that size is not easily concealable. Want to try it out? Go buy a machete and see if you can walk down the street without anyone seeing it. A machete is the closest modern tool I could think of.

Geisha twittering behind a fan: "Samurai-san, is that your wakizashi, or are you just happy to see me?"

I would say yes - a wakizashi could be concealable. Remember we aren't wearing form-fitted pants and shirts, we're wearing kimono and probably hakama. These are very loose and are only as form fitting as you tie them to be. It is very easy to conceal a knife in my keikogi by just putting it inside and it sits there resting on my obi and you'd never know it. If I put a wakizashi inside my keikogi, with part of it inside the obi behind me it could rest along my back pretty easily. There is already a knot back there from my obi, with a lot of folded cloth, so the extra bump of the blade being concealed wouldn't be very obvious. Even easier if I'm wearing a haori too. Even without hiding it within my clothes, if we were at a reasonable distance - say about the distance across 2 lanes of a road - and I just held it so that it was behind my arm while relaxed at my side, I think it could be reasonably eclipsed from view in that way as well.

Certainly not as easy as a smaller knife, or a weapon designed to be concealed though.

On 10/9/2017 at 0:38 AM, GrimRedBen said:

Go buy a machete and see if you can walk down the street without anyone seeing it.

Do not do this.

Plus, as a second part; another element of Concealable is 'easily overlooked'; to an extent most characters should probably assume a samurai has a wakizashi on them unless they're in very specific situations.

But yes, it's not easy to hide if someone's specifically looking for it, but it'd be easy enough to hide under a travelling cloak, for example, if someone isn't stood right next to you and actively searching you for it.

We're talking "scorpion spy in peasant clothing sneaking into a village with a sword past the sentry stood a few feet from the bridge", here, not "I pat you down and don't find it".

Also let's remember that for the Samurai, those beneath their conditions are beneath notice.

A guard will indeed not touch an Heimin to "Body search" him, that would be gross. let's not even talk about Burakumin/Eta. Samurai are "trained" from birth to not even see them.

>be me

>try to smuggle wakizashi into the city to assassinate stubborn official

>stopped by guards

>ohno.jpg

>searched

>strip-searched

>wakizashi found

>OHMYGOD.jpg

>have to run away from guards naked

>It's him!

>Welp. At least I hid a tanto where the guards wont find it.

My face when.

9 hours ago, Norgrath said:

Do not do this.

I’ve worn kimono, having grown up in Japan. You’re not going to fit a sword under it. Even with loose fiting clothing, it’s going to be noticeable.

As a concession to those who just want to have a concealable sword, perhaps a rule that it takes longer to draw the weapon would be appropriate, especially with something like a sword. The rule wouldn’t apply to something like a small knife.

Things you can hide in clothes:

On 10/8/2017 at 4:38 AM, GrimRedBen said:

I may have missed the discussion somewhere, so forgive me if I did.

Can someone explain how a wakizashi is concealable? I mean, where exactly do you stick a weapon with a blade that is historically 12-24 inches (30-60cm) long plus the hilt? Something that size is not easily concealable. Want to try it out? Go buy a machete and see if you can walk down the street without anyone seeing it. A machete is the closest modern tool I could think of.

A wakisashi is, blade only, 1-2 shaku (feet) long, plus a half to 3/4 shaku hilt.

So 1.5 to 2.75 shaku, or 45.45 cm to 83 cm long. A person's arm is, typically,

A human is typically 5 to 6 shaku tall. The forearm length is typically about 2/13 the height.

so 151.3 to 181.8 cm is a forearm of 23 to 28 cm long.

The upper arm is about 1.1x the forearm. so 25 to 31 cm. Combined, 48 to 59 cm. (1.5 to 1.9 shaku).

A wakizashi easily can be concealed under a kimono by hanging from the fundoshi. It can also be hung inside the hakama, or concealed under a longer jacket.

Shorter ones can be concealed up the sleeve, or behind "folded hands"...

I wouldn't say it'd be comfortable, but it's certainly doable with both historic Japanese and the exemplar Rokugani modes of dress.

On 10/9/2017 at 8:19 PM, Norgrath said:

Do not do this.

I've walkd down city streets with a sword under a cloak. Until I took off the cloak, no one noticed the sword. When the mugger demanded my wallet, my return of stand and deliver literally made him wet his trousers.

30 minutes ago, AK_Aramis said:

I've walkd down city streets with a sword under a cloak

Are you Duncan Mc Leod?

1 minute ago, Nitenman said:

Are you Duncan Mc Leod?

Was on my way to pipe band practice. Was on the color guard. Under the cloak was full kit. Buchannan Kilt, Sword, 2 daggers (sgein dubh & dirk), backsword claidhmor, sporran, and a .32 acp in a case inside a backpack (was going shooting after practice). Plus the kilt pin, a weapon itself. And a key fob that would double as a garrotte. And the hat cocade, which also could poke out an eye if applied right.

Remove the tsuba, and the wakizashi becomes much much easier to hide.

You can conceal a katana (or several, if necessary) in a stack of wood if you want. Hiding a wakizashi on your person is not that difficult. You won't pass a thorough inspection, but you probably wouldn't either if you carried a flask of black powder disguised as a sake bottle. Deal with it as circumstances demand.