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Another thing we have to consider when fixing a date for a japanese sword is the Eto.

Another thing we have to consider when fixing a date for a japanese sword is the Eto.

Eto is originally a Chinese calender invented in the ancient period. It consists of ten ordinal signs and twelve zodiacal symbols and the combination of both characters makes a cycle of sixty years, the ''Italic text''Sexagenary cycle''Italic text''. In Japan the Eto was used not only to count time by years but also to show time by hours (In this case one day is divided into twelve fractions.) and direction. The Eto can often be seen on the Nakago of the Japanese sword.

Eto is originally a Chinese calender invented in the ancient period. It consists of ten ordinal signs and twelve zodiacal symbols and the combination of both characters makes a cycle of sixty years, the '''Sexagenary cycle'''. In Japan the Eto was used not only to count time by years but also to show time by hours (In this case one day is divided into twelve fractions.) and direction. The Eto can often be seen on the Nakago of the Japanese sword.