sakabatou

A reverse-blade sword. The sharpened (edge) and unsharpened (back) sides of the blade are transposed, allowing the user to perform traditional sword-wielding techniques with non-lethal results.

A sakabatou is the sword of a pacifist samurai. As killing opponents with the point of the sword was considered dishonorable, a sakabatou if used normally would only inflict blunt force trauma which would not be fatal.

Generally, the use of a sakabatou meant that the samurai had dishonored himself and had taken a vow to regain his honor.

AKA sakabato. A fictional type of reverse-edged Japanese sword that has been made popular by Himura Kenshin (Eng: Kenshin Himura) in Ruroni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Romantan manga/anime (US, manga: Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story; anime: Samurai X). Generally, curvy swords are sharp on the part where the blade curves outward while the part that the blade curves inward is blunt. A sakabatou is sharp on the blade that curves inward instead, thus making it a pacifist or not deadly sword.

A sword which has an upside down blade, in the sense that the blunt end of a conventional katana is sharpened as opposed to the front end (the blunt side where the sharp side should typically be).

The weapon of choice used by Rurouni Kenshin protagonist Himura Kenshin after becoming a rurouni.

Literally meaning "reverse-edged sword," the sakabatou is just that. Instead of the blade being on the curved edged, the blade is actually where the blunt edge would be, with the blunt edge being on the curve. Thus, when used just like any normal katana, the sakabatou can't cut or kill: the perfect weapon for Kenshin since his oath to never kill again.

Though replicas have been reproduced, the sakabatou is purely the brainchild of RK creator Nobuhiro Watsuki, and no sword matching the sakabatou's description has ever been recorded in history.

Reversed blade sword