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3.1 Classification by length

All Japanese swords are manufactured according to this method and are somewhat similar in appearance. What generally differentiates the different swords is their length. Japanese swords are measured in units of "Shaku". One shaku is approximately equal to 12" or 30 cm.

A blade shorter than 1 shaku is considered a tanto (knife).
A blade longer than 1 shaku but less than 2 is considered a shoto (short sword) and included the wakizashi and kodachi.
A blade longer than 2 shaku is considered a daito, or long sword. This is the category 'katana' fall into. However, the term 'katana' is often misapplied: a sword is only a katana if it is worn blade-up through a belt-sash (these averaged 70cm in blade length). If it is suspended by cords from a belt, it is called ' tachi' (average blade length of 78cm).
Abnormally long blades, worn across the back, are called odachi or nodachi. 'odachi' is also sometimes used as a synonym for katana.
It should be noted that there are many varieties of wooden practice blades, including those made out of wood ( bokken) and those made out of bamboo (often used for kendo practice, usually referred to as shinai).

3.2 Classification by date of manufacture

before 900: Straight and two-edged, like Chinese swords of the same era, these can safely be called 'Chinese Style'.
700-1500: A 'koto': these are considered the pinnacle of Japanese swordcraft. Early models had uneven curves with the deepest part of the curve at the hilt.
1500-1867: Derisively called a 'shinto', or 'new sword'. These are considered inferior to koto, and coincide with a degradation in manufacturing skills.
1867+: If made in koto style, these are called 'shin shinto', or 'new revival swords' (literally 'new new swords'). These are considered superior to shinto, but worse than koto.
1876+ (post-Haitorei Edict): Any mass-produced blade is derisively called 'gunto'. These often look like Western cavalry sabers rather than katana, although there are a lot of very recent (1970+) swords made to look just like katana, but mass-produced.

3.3 Classification by the way a sword was worn

before 1500: Most swords worn suspended from cords on a belt, blade-down. This style is called 'jindachi-zukuri', and all daito worn in this fashion are 'tachi'.
1500-1867: Almost all swords are worn through a sash, paired with a smaller blade. Both blades are blade-up. This style is called 'buke-zukuri', and all daito worn in this fashion are 'katana'.
1876+: Due to restrictions and/or the destruction of the Samurai class, most blades are worn jindachi-zukuri style, like Western navy officers. Recently (1953+) there is a resurgence in buke-zukuri style, but as swords are only allowed for demonstration purposes, this is largely irrelevant.

As a side note: swords designed specifically to be tachi are generally koto rather than shinto, so they are generally better manufactured and more elaborately decorated. However, these are still katana if worn in modern 'buke-zukuri' style.

As a further side note: most of the various kinds of spears could come with blades made in the same style as the Japanese sword. Although largely overlooked in Western literature, spears were the first resort of any samurai and most peasants, and the blades on the samurai spears were often of extremely high quality. However, despite this, the sword was still considered the soul of the samurai, not the spear.

4 Manufacturing

Japanese swords and other edged weapons are manufactured by an elaborate method of repeatedly heating, folding and hammering the metal. This practice was originated from use of highly impure metals, stemming from the low temperature yielded in the smelting at that time and place. In order to counter this, and to homogenize the carbon content of the blades (giving some blades characteristic folding patterns), the folding was developed (for comparison see pattern welding), and found to be quite effective, though labour intensive. Contrary to popular belief, this does not result in super-strength of a blade. The process of repeatedly folding the blade is performed in order to purify the metal.

The distinctive curvature of the katana is partly due to a process of differential quenching. The back of the sword is coated with clay, insulating it and so causing it to cool slower than the edge when the blade is quenched. This produces a blade with a hard edge and soft back, allowing it to be resilient and yet retain a good cutting edge.

This process also makes the edge of the blade contract less than the back when cooling down, something that aids the smith in establishing the curvature of the blade. As with other curved blades (e.g. sabers, scimitars, and machetes), this curvature makes the blade a more effective cutting weapon by concentrating the force of impact on a relatively small area; however, it decreases effectiveness as a thrusting weapon.

Manufacturing processes are described in greater detail in following subsections.

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