In Japanese sword terms, you’ll hear works referred to as koto (old swords), shinto (new swords), shinshinto (new, new swords) and gendaito (modern swords).
Rather than being relative terms, these have become fixed terms to describe specific periods of sword making.
| Historical Period | Timeline (CE) | Capital | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nara | 710-794 | Nara | ||
| Heian | 794-1185 | Heian (Kyoto) | ||
| Kamakura | 1185-1333 | Kamakura | ||
| Nambokucho | 1336-1392 | Heian (Northern Court) Yoshino (Southern Court, near Nara) | ||
| Muromachi | 1336/1392-1573 | |||
| Momoyama | 1568/1573-1600 | Azuchi (Shogun) until 1582 Heian (Emperor) from 1582 | 1582 was the death of Oda Nobunaga. Also known as the Azuchi-Momoyama period | |
| Edo | 1600-1868 | Edo (Tokyo) | Tokugawa Ieyasu declared Shogun in 1603. | |
| Meiji | 1868-1912 | Tokyo | Edo renamed after the imperial family relocated i 1869. | |
| Taisho | 1912-1926 | Tokyo | ||
| Showa | 1926-1989 | Tokyo |
Nihonto と 