The Katana Sword

The katana sword is the long sword worn by a samurai warrior. Samurai were the only people allowed to wear two swords in Japan, a short one between twelve and twenty four inches in length called the wakizashi and a long one, the katana. The katana is the sword we picture when we think of a samurai sword, with a sharp curved blade.

The manufacture of swords in Japan is a spiritual art, the original sword smiths being Amakuni and his son Amakura. They were inspired by the Shinto gods and through prayer and inspiration developed a sword that would not break in battle. Swords of remarkably high quality were being made in Japan as long as four thousand years ago, but the sword known as the katana dates from about the 1400s.

The mode of manufacture for a true katana is the same as for the earlier swords. There is a soft core that gives flexibility to the blade, surrounded by many-folded steel that is sharpened to a more than razor like keenness. Despite the myths to the contrary there are no records of a blade being folded more than twenty times. The process was a closely guarded secret and involved forging many blades together, with tempering of just the edge or just the blade at different stages of the process.

During manufacture the blades would be tested on corpses or condemned criminals. The results of these tests were recorded on the nakago, the plate that attaches the sword blade to the handle. The blade itself was often richly engraved and given a name. The engraving on the blade had the added bonus of creating the distinctive hiss of the steel through the air. Engraving would be done on the tang or hidden part of the blade. This allowed the wooden hilt to be attached more firmly and is a mark of how ell the steel has aged. The tang of a katana should never be cleaned.

Once the wooden, or occasionally metal hilt has been attached, often by means of a bamboo peg the hilt is wrapped and decorated with a functional grip and pommel. A scabbard specific for the blade is then made.

The katana sword developed from weapons already in use, primarily the long cavalry sword known as the tachi. The movement of warfare from mounted troops to foot soldiers, triggered by the war with Mongolia, influenced the development of the short katana sword. The relatively short katana blade was easier to carry and draw than the preceding longer tachi blades. It was also more easily used in close combat.

The katana was carried in the waistband of the soldiers uniform, with the cutting edge uppermost, allowing the drawing and use of the blade in one movement. Typically they are about twenty-four inches in length, or slightly longer.

The pair of swords carried by a samurai is known as the daisho, and reflect the personal power and honour of the individual samurai. The two parts of the daisho would often be purchased separately, or even if bought together would not necessarily have been designed as a matching set. For this reason any matching pairs from previous times are extremely valuable today, particularly if they have the original decoration.

The swords of the samurai were considered to have their own souls and spirits. The sword was considered the source of the samurai’s warrior spirit. The samurai were the highest social rank in Japan from the middle ages until fairly recently. The wearing of swords in public by samurai only ceased in the late 1800s.

The samurai code of conduct has two parts, The way of the Bow and horse, and the way of the Warrior, known as Bushido. The Bushido placed great emphasis on honour and included the treatment and honour of the weapons, including the katana. Samurai were known to sacrifice themselves in order to save a shogun’s treasured sword.

The early katana that survive today are national treasures in Japan, treated with the same respect and reverence that they were originally. The traditional methods of manufacture were kept alive by the Gassan line of smiths, who are now identified as national treasures. The manufacture of blades was banned following world war two, but the personal intervention of Dr Homma Junji with General Douglas MacArthur led to the art being kept alive. It was estimated that by 1958 there were more true katana in America, brought back by returning soldiers, than in Japan.

Dr Homma set up a society to protect and promote the ancient art of sword making and his success means that true katana made by the traditional methods are still available, but it is more common to see cheaper mass produced katana in use in displays of the martial arts, or for sale on the Internet.

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