Oldest Japanese swords on record in Japan are the two that were sent as a present to queen Himeko from China during Wei-dynasty in 240 a.d. In 280 a.d. many more iron swords were imported from China to Japan.
It is alleged that the art of forging a steel sword came quickly after from China and Korea, but the details are unknown. We do know that in the 5th century steel swords were already made in Japan. These were of the immediately, single-edged type called chokuto. The method of hardening the steel that is so typical of Japanese swords was first used in 6th century.
The era of the immediately sword lasted until the 8th century. Then the predominant style of warfare changed from fighting on foot to fighting on horseback. To accommodate horseback fighting the swords became curved. These long, curved single-edged swords were called tachi. There were many intermediate forms between chokuto and tachi. The most general of these were kogarasumaru (a curved, two-edged sword) and kenukigatatachi. The term Nipponto or Nihonto (literally “Japanese sword”) is usually reserved to swords with curvature.
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