Katana

A Katana is a long Japanese sword.

History
The katana originated in the Muromachi period (1392–1573), as a result of changing battle conditions requiring faster response times. The katana facilitated this by being worn with the blade facing up, which allowed the samurai to draw and cut their enemy in a single motion. Previously, the curved sword of the samurai was worn with the blade facing down. This sort of response was also increasingly useful in the daily life of the samurai.

The length of the katana's blade varied considerably during the course of its history. In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, katana blades tended to be between 70 and 73 cm in length. During the early 16th century, average length was much closer to 60 cm, but late in the 16th century, is again approximately 73 cm.

The katana was mostly paired with the wakizashi or shōtō, a similarly made but smaller sword, both worn by the members of the warrior class. It could also be worn with the tantō, an even smaller similarly shaped blade. The two weapons together were called the daishō and represented the social power and personal honor of the samurai. Although the name katana is more common it only refers to the longer swords.

Call of Duty: World at War
The Katana was originally thought to be a usable weapon in Call of Duty: World at War. However, it seems to have been replaced by the bayonet as the Katana is unusable by the player and only seen being wielded by some Japanese soldiers during certain parts of the campaign mode. In the first mission, Semper Fi, a Japanese soldier slashes Miller across the shoulder with a katana as he tries to escape with the other Marines. Also, in the last part of Little Resistance, Sgt. Sullivan gets killed by a Japanese Banzai Charger wielding a katana.