Japanese sword making has a long and distinguished history going back hundreds of years. Over time, the forging method, the shapes they take, and the use of these blades have changed. From doubled-edged blades, such as the ken and the yari, to the single-edged katana, wakizashi and tachi, among others.
The most famous of the Japanese blades, the katana, are single-edged and curved, meant for slashing and stabbing. Katanas are so well known, in fact; the term is often used to describe all Japanese swords.
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History of swords
The oldest recorded blades are known as koto, “early swords”. Although all swords forged before the 16th century are called koto, the first ones dating back to the 200A.D. were straight, double-edged blades.
The first single-edged sword was the tachi, used from around the 4th to the 9th century. In their origin, these were often imitations or weapons imported into Japan from mainland Asia. Tachi are believed to have been mainly ceremonial and used by high-ranking figures.
The yari is thought to have originated from Chinese spears around the Nara period (710-794), though the term “yari” is not seen in written sources until the fourteenth century. Double-edged and more spear-shaped, this weapon became more commonly used in battles throughout the Heian (794-1192) and subsequent periods.
Yet no other Japanese swords have the world renown of the katana, seen as the samurai’s weapon. The word katana was first used during the Kamakura period (1192-1333) to describe the type of blade forged at the time. Tachi and katana can be differentiated by their length – the tachi being slightly longer. Additionally, tachi were to be worn on the left side of the body edge down, while katanas were to be worn edge up.
Curiously enough, and despite what films would have you believe, most of those in the Japanese warrior class preferred using bows or spears. Swords were seen as more ceremonial or duelling weapons, used more often as a last resort than the primary weapon for combat.
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The art of forging swords
Sword forging is an art which was traditionally never recorded in writing, but passed on from master to student. This means that there is little in the way of recordings of the craft and its evolution over the centuries.
However, we do know that Japanese swords have always been forged for utility as well as aesthetics. One of the things which made these swords unique was the forging method used.
The forging of each blade took anywhere from weeks to months and was considered a sacred art. Traditional Japanese blades are made using Tamahagane steel and applying a gruelling folding and forging process. This ensured the purity of the metal and the hardness of the edge.
The entire process was designed to maximise the strength of the edge while maintaining the malleability of the rest of the blade to ensure its resilience. From the mix of harder and softer metal structures in the blade, we see the traditional curve in the weapons and the Hamon, the distinctive pattern on the sword’s surface. This pattern was often a source of pride for a sword maker and a show of their skill.
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The myth of the blades
Whether or not they were regularly used, Japanese swords, katanas most of all, were held in high regard by those who wielded them. This esteem was also attributed to those who forged the blades. Some of them reached almost mythical status in history, with plays and tales of their endeavours repeated through the centuries.
None more so than the sword maker Masamune, born in the late 12th century. His original name is believed to be Okazaki Gorōnyūdō, and he is credited with creating the Sōshū school of sword forging.
One such tale of his talent is a competition held between him and one of his students. To test the sharpness of the blades, each sword maker placed their sword in a creek, with the edge facing the current.
While the student’s blade cut everything that passed it by, leaves and fish alike, Masamune’s blade cut not a single leaf nor fish in the current. As the student began to mock his master’s lack of skill, a passing monk who had observed the competition came and told them, the first of the blades was fine by all accounts, but bloodthirsty; it was indiscriminate in what it cut down. On the other hand, Masamune’s sword did not needlessly cut that which was innocent and undeserving, thus making it the superior blade.
Like this one, many tales surround katanas and Japanese blades, some more fantastical than others. Yet, the age of the blade was not meant to last forever. With the beginning of the Meiji period (1868), carrying swords in public became forbidden. It wasn’t until the late 20th century that sword forging saw a resurgence in popularity. Nowadays, Japanese blades are, of course, no longer made for their traditional purpose. Found in museums worldwide, they have truly become works of art to admire.