Through their depiction in period dramas, it is often misunderstood that among Japanese swords, kozuka (the hilt of a small sword or the small sword itself) and kogai (a spatula attached to a small sword), which were stored in the scabbard as an accouterment of uchigatana and short swords, were weapons used as shuriken in emergencies.
なお日本刀のうち、打刀や脇差の刀装具として鞘に格納される小柄（こづか）や笄（こうがい）を、緊急時に手裏剣として用いる武器のように時代劇の描写で誤解されている。