The yoroi tōshi (鎧通し) (yoroi doshi) "armor piercing or piercer"[1] [2]or "mail piercer"[3]were one of the traditional Japanese swords (nihonto) that were worn by the samurai class as a weapon in feudal Japan.
The yoroi toshi is an extra thick Japanese dagger like sword which appeared in the Sengoku period (late Muromachi).[4] The yoroi toshi was made for cutting (piercing) through armour[5]and for stabbing while grappling in close quarters, it ranged in size from 20cm to 22cm but they could under 15cm, with a "tapering mihaba, iori-mune,thick kasane at the bottom and thin kasane at the top and occasionally moroha-zukuri construction".[6]The yoroi toshi motogasane (blade thickness) at the hamachi (the notch at the beginning of the cutting edge) can be up to .5 inches thick which is a characteristic of the yoroi toshi style of tanto. The extra thickness at the spine of the blade identifies the yoroi toshi from a standard tanto blade. Yoroi toshi were worn inside the belt on the back or on the right side[7]with the hilt toward the front and the edge upward. The later also gave it the name metazashi (mettazashi, めった刺し);[8] "right side wear".
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