Polearms, spears and halberds, as heavy weapon variants is an interesting idea but not one I'm not pursuing at this time, especially with heavy suits being as weak as they are in CQC due to low turn speed.

A wakizashi is the short sword paired with the katana.

As to the OP's idea I have to say no. The whole space samurai idea is not only stupid but totally over played. Also, while knives make sense as a standard infantry tool (more for utility but also a weapon of last resort), swords have very little utility on a sci-fi battle field.

What would having swords bring to the game? A slightly longer reach for hand to hand combat? That really isn't a dramatic change and definitely won't increase survivability in hand to hand combat. I can still back away and throw tons of (insert deadly projectile here) at you. Also since there are no block/parry mechanics build into the game melee battles are just glorified slap fights (not a ton of fun for anyone).

That being said what we are left with is that you want to add swords, Japanese style swords in particular, to add more flavor to the game. I for one don't need more action movie/anime chich+¬s built into the game. Lets push CCP to build solid core mechanics, finish all the suits and planned vehicles, add in the ability to interact with EVE more fully, develop the non-fps elements of the game and then we can start talking flavor.

Question: What is with the modern obsession with Japanese swords? You know that the japanese did/do other really neat stuff too right? Dueling holiday shrines for example. Why don't young men in our country have a strange enduring love of this (kenka tanabata festival incase you were wondering), it is so much cooler than the swords. Or what about the amazing Japanese tatoos or even their great food (there is so much more to it than sushi). Come on folks lets end this ninja/samurai obsession here and now, its dated and silly.