In addition, the use of soldiers on foot equipped with spears spiraled into the production of the so called uchigatana, in both the one-handed and two-handed forms. As the Sengoku common wars advanced, the uchigatana style developed into the modern Japanese sword, or katana, and almost completely replaced the more traditional and older tachi as the number one essential weapon of the samurai, particularly in situations when not wearing protective layers or armor.
Numerous of the longer types of tachi were actually shortened in length in the 15th—17th hundreds in order to fulfill the need for the katana in demand. The art of swordmaking slowly fell apart and degraded as time advanced and gunpowder and firearms were presented as a conclusive powerful factor on the front line of battle. The boycott was once again lifted through an individual plea by a person by the name of Dr. Junji Honma, who showed General Douglas MacArthur all the different types of swords from the different times of Japanese history.
MacArthur was able to very quickly recognize which of the blades held aesthetic value, and which swords could be considered merely more crude weapons. The U. Occupation and its rules and regulations nearly put an end to the production of nihonto using the traditional techniques.
This organization has one primary goal — to protect and preserve the old techniques and blades. It should be noted that there are many replica katanas on the market today with both dull and sharp edges claiming to be handforged or made with traditional techniques and high quality materials which often is misinformation.
Instead of falling into the marketing traps you need to note the quality, materials, type of steel, as well as weather the sharpened edge has been folded or not and how many layers etc.
The balance and weight of the katana is also important if you wish to use it for practice or combat. In Japan today, all bladed hand-made Japanese swords, regardless of whether antique or more modern, are referred to as artistic objects and not weapons , and must have a certificate in order to be lawfully possessed. A few organizations and companies outside Japan produce katana also, with varying quality. After World War II After the second world war from to , the production of swords and any sword-related hand to hand fighting or martial arts using katana or the like were forbidden.
Numerous swords were taken, confiscated and destroyed, thus swordsmiths were not able to sustain themselves by their craft.
Since , Japanese swordsmiths have been permitted to work, however with extreme limitations. Firstly any swordsmith must be authorized and serve a five-year apprenticeship, and only these authorized swordsmiths are permitted to produce Japanese swords nihonto. The set was called a Daisho, and if the samurai needed something extra up their sleeve, in case the opposition was daunting, the warrior would add a tanto blade to their collection.
The wakizashi was to be carried at all times and even kept under the pillow while the soldier sleeps, as it was used for close-quarter combat, emergencies, and ritual suicide. On the other hand, the katana was the head honcho on the battlefield, cutting through flesh like butter and chopping off heads, freezing the stunned faces of the enemy.
An entire martial art was created to learn how to appropriately use the samurai sword and it was dubbed Kenjutsu or Kendo, which is its modern day, non-military incarnation. The importance of studying Kenjutsu was crucial for samurai, as their proficiency in the ways of the sword was a life or death situation. The art of sword combat, as with all martial arts, had both a physical and spiritual level.
In other words, samurai blended Zen Buddhism in training to allow them to draw their sword without hesitation and kill unconsciously.
Taught by a sword master, a young samurai would learn everything from how to draw the blade efficiently and how to manipulate it in a battle to prevail. The mindset of the samurai was also rooted deeply in Zen Buddhism. A young George Lucas admired the honorable, fierce way of the samurai, using many of their beliefs to create the Jedi in a little film called Star Wars.
In Kenjutsu, there are five basic blows: from top to bottom, left to right, right to left, and straight through the throat. Samurai trained to slash like lightning and with a mind void of everything else but the mission. To execute an enemy in one graceful stroke was called nukiuchi, which only the best could do consistently.
By the 12th century, the skills of the samurai became legendary. For example, there was the Japanese epic, Heiki Monogatari, which was written about the Gempei War in the s.
It told the story of a warrior-monk who wielded a katana with so much precision he stained his blade with the blood of eight men in a few strokes. The katana was not only a weapon of protection but a mercy tool to assist in a ritualistic Japanese suicide called seppuku, which was carried out when a warrior brought shame to himself. A kaishakunin, or an appointed second person on duty for the ritual, is typically a samurai on standby who is ready to behead the person performing seppuku.
The kaishakunin stands on the left side of the person committing the ritual suicide and draws his sword slowly and silently, raising it with his right hand, waiting for the seppuku to be carried out. The man performing seppuku would pierce his stomach with his blade to redeem his honor.
Then, the kaishukunin double-grips his blade and performs a downward cut, or kiritsuke, beheading the former warrior. The katana helps the kaishukunin perform a controlled cut through the neck of the shamed warrior, relieving him of pain. Seppuku was a regular occurrence in feudal Japan.
The 47 Ronin legend, a tale of masterless warriors avenging their leader, made seppuku well-known, as the remaining warriors perform the ritualistic suicide in accordance with the samurai code. For all the legend, myth, and pop culture hype surrounding the katana sword, it actually has a marvelous, revolutionary design.
In order to jump this hurdle, Masamune and other swordsmiths used four metal bars consisting of a soft iron bar to protect the blade from breaking, two hard iron bars to keep the steel from bending, and a steel bar to be sharpened. The swordsmith pulls the katana from the fire and plunges it into the water for a rapid cool down.
Since the inner core contains small amounts of carbon, the blade can contract, forming the famous and functional curve. The steel would be sharpened to create the razor edge and the soft metal made the katana unbreakable in duels.
When the katana is fully forged, a professional sword polisher rubs the blade with a series of grinding and polishing stones, creating a mirror-like finish, perhaps so enemies might catch a glimpse of their reactions before death. The creation of a katana was so vital Shinto priests were called in to bless the process, as well as perform a spiritual purification of the swordsmith.
Creators of these glorious katanas were considered artists, as they poured their hearts into the forging of these incredible weapons. In the golden age of the samurai between the 13th and 17th centuries, swordsmiths were as renowned as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo.
These rockstar artisans were surrounded by myths, just like the samurai. A tameshigiri test cut was performed with a newly forged katana by slicing through a stack of dead bodies or even live criminals. Of course, tameshigiri could only be done by a master swordsman to ensure the quality of the build. In order to fully understand the katana, you must know its parts. Forging the sword After the smith hammers all slag from the tamahagane, he heats the hard, high-carbon steel and shapes it into a long, U-shaped channel.
He then hammers the tough, low-carbon steel, which he has shaped so it will make a snug fit into the channel and forges the two metals together.
Both types of tamahagane are now exactly where they need to be: the hard steel forms the sword's outer shell and deadly blade, while the tough steel serves as the katana's core. This perfect balance of properties is what made the katana the samurai's most durable and prized weapon. Coating the katana While the katana's body is now complete, the swordsmith's work is far from over.
Just prior to firing the sword a final time, he paints a thick, insulating mixture of clay and charcoal powder onto the blade's upper sides and dull back edge, leaving the sword's sharp front edge only lightly coated.
This serves both to protect the blade and to give it its signature wavy design called the hamon , which later polishing will reveal. Curving the blade Next, the smith pulls the katana from the fire and plunges it into a trough of water in a rapid cool-down process called "quenching. The difference in both the degree and speed of contraction between the two forms of tamahagane causes the sword to bend, creating the distinctive curve. This is a tricky stage, in which as many as one in three swords is lost.
Polishing the blade The katana, fully forged, now goes to a skilled sword polisher, who may spend more than two weeks honing the sword's razor-sharp edge. Sometimes called "water stones," these tools are typically composed of hard silicate particles suspended in clay. As the clay slowly wears away during use, more silicate particles are revealed, guaranteeing excellent polishing quality throughout the life of the stone.
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