[image] [image] The katana (刀) is the Japanese Backsword or longsword (大刀 daitō), although many Japanese use this word generically as a catch-all word for Sword. Katana (pronounced [ka-ta-na]) is the kun'yomi (Japanese reading) of the Kanji 刀 ; the on'yomi (Chinese reading) is tō. In Mandarin, it is pronounced dāo. While the word has no separate Plural form in Japanese, it has been adopted as a loan word by the English language, where it is commonly pluralised as katanas.
It refers to a specific type of curved, single-edged sword traditionally used by the Japanese Samurai. The weapon was typically paired with the Wakizashi, a similarly made but shorter sword both worn by the members of the buke (bushi) warrior class, it could also be worn with the tanto, an even smaller similarly shaped blade. The two weapons together were called the Daisho, and represented the social power and personal honor of the Samurai (buke retainers to the Daimyo). The long blade was used for open combat, while the shorter blade was considered a side arm, and also more suited for stabbing, close combat (such as indoors), and Seppuku, a form of ritual suicide. (In fact, seppuku was a right reserved for samurai in order to preserve their honor by taking their own life should the need arise.) The Scabbard for a katana is referred to as a saya, and the handguard piece, often intricately designed as individual works of art especially in later years of the Edo period, was called the Tsuba.
It is primarily used for Cutting (although the Chisel-like tip, called the kissaki, allows for thrusting) and can be wielded one- or two-handed, the latter being the most common mode. It is traditionally worn edge up. While the practical arts for using the sword for its original purpose are now somewhat obsolete, Kenjutsu has turned into gendai budo - modern martial arts for a modern time. The art of drawing the katana is Iaido (also known as battō-jutsu or iaijutsu), and Kendo is an art of Fencing with a Shinai (Bamboo sword) protected by Helmet and Armour, additionally, iaijutsu is an older style of battle field type fencing. Old Koryu sword schools do still exist (Kashima Shinto-ryu, Kashima Shin-ryu, Katori Shinto-ryu). Perhaps one of the more famous types of Japanese fencing was "Nitto Ryu" or the use of both the Katana and Wakizashi in tandem; a technique most famously used by Miyamoto Musashi.
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Much of early Japanese culture revolved around swords. Elaborate methods for carrying, cleaning, storing, sharpening (or not sharpening), and wielding the sword evolved from era to era.
For example, a samurai entering someone's house might consider how to place his sheathed sword as he knelt. Positioning his sword for an easy draw implied suspicion or aggression; thus, whether he placed it on his right or left side, and whether the blade was placed curving away or towards him, was an important point of Etiquette. As for the host, his long-sword was generally stored above the wakizashi on a rack kalled a Katana-kake, curving upwards; in the manner it was worn, with the Omote side showing (Tsuka or handle ponting left). The Tachi on the other hand, had a stand, the Tsuka was set in a groove at the base and the Saya pointed upwards set in a notch at the top with the cutting edge down, again in the manner it was worn.
However, most samurai did not use their sword as a primary weapon; bow first, a spear next, and only then the sword. Drawing the sword was like letting one's soul blaze free and usually meant that the samurai was down to the last straw. To have fought till nothing but a surrender is possible, is defined as Ken ore, Ya mo tsuki, (lit. "with swords broken and without an arrow") used as a proverb.
One of the oldest known forms of Kenjutsu dates the Kofun era (3rd and 4th centuries). The style, called Kashima no Tachi (鹿島の太刀), was created at the Kashima Shrine (in Ibaraki Prefecture). In the Heian Period (8th to 11th centuries) we see the development of sword-making, through techniques brought from the Russia and North part of Japan Hokkaido in those days Ainu's territory. The Ainu people used Warabite-tou(蕨手刀) Warabite sword and this sword influenced on Katana.According to legend, the Japanese sword was invented by a smith named 'Amakuni' in AD 700, along with the folded steel process. Among other modifications, the katana becomes single-edged, and better suited for slashing. This is also reflected in the styles of kenjutsu created during this period. From the Kashima shrine's Kashima no Tachi sprang the Kantō-nanaryū (関東七流 - also known as the Kashima-nanaryū 鹿島七流). In the same period, the Kyō-hachiryū (京八流) was created in the Kurama mountain (in Kyoto).
By the twelfth century, civil war erupted after a long period of decadence. For five centuries, Japan had its own dark ages, marked by continuous, brutal wars. The War of Onin (1467-1477) revolutionized Japanese Armour, and weapons hit a plateau of quality considered to be superior to those made even today.
During the Muromachi period, bloody wars were the norm, but the indolent shogunates also put a high value on art and culture, so the islands did not descend into barbarism. While many good swords were made during this period, the vast need for swords caused smiths to switch to production line methods. Furthermore, the ferocity of the fighting caused the highly artistic techniques of the Kamakura period (known as the Golden Age of Swordmaking) to be abandoned in favor of more utilitarian and disposable weapons. The export of katana reached its height during Muromachi period with the total of at least 200,000 katana being shipped to the Ming Dynasty in official trades. The (ultimately failed) rationale behind this was to attempt to soak up the production of Japanese weapons and make it harder for pirates in the area to arm. As time progressed, the craft decayed under the needs listed above, and the introduction of guns, as a decisive force on the battlefield.
In times of peace, swordsmiths had time and the inclination to return to the making of refined and artistic blades, and the beginning of the Momoyama period saw the return of high quality creations. As the techniques of the ancient smiths had been lost during the previous period of war, these swords were called shinto, literally 'new swords.' This gave the obvious name to the older blades as koto, 'old swords.' The blades that predated the curved blades introduced around 987AD were refered to as 'jokoto' or ancient swords. As the Edo period progressed, there came a decline in quality once again, for a variety of reasons, including the evolution of the Samurai class into bureaucrats and policemen; other related arts did move forward from time to time, leading to beautiful engravings and decorations for weapons. The addition of these engravings known as 'horimono' were originally for religious reasons, and were simple and tasteful. It is often considered that the more complex work found on many shinto swords then is a corruption, where form no longer strictly follows function and thereby no longer achieves a pure form of beauty.
Under the isolationist Tokugawa shogunate, guns and Gunpowder were increasingly restricted and removed from circulation. By the middle of the eighteenth century, most young Japanese had never seen a gun, let alone actually seen one fired.
Towards the end of this period, swordmaking had fallen to another low, and due to the efforts of the master swordsmith Munetsugu at the turn of the 19th century, artistic merit once again returned to the craft. Munetsugu published opinions that the arts and techniques of the shinto swords were inferior to the koto blades, and that research should be made by all swordsmiths in the land to rediscover the lost techniques. Munetsugu travelled the land teaching what he knew to all who would listen, and swordsmiths rallied to his cause and ushered in a second renaissance in Japanese sword smithing. With the discarding of the Shinto style, and the re-introduction of old and rediscovered techniques, the swords of this time were now called 'shinshinto' meaning 'new-new swords.'
Japan remained in stasis until Matthew Perry's arrival in 1853 and the subsequent Convention of Kanagawa forcibly reintroduced Japan to the outside world; the rapid Modernization of the Meiji Restoration soon followed.
The Haitorei edict in 1876 all but banned carrying swords and guns on streets, making samurai less distinguishable from commoners. Possession itself was not prohibited, so many katana were simply stashed away. Overnight, the market for swords died, and many swordsmiths were left without a trade to pursue, and valuable skills were lost. In time, the need to arm soldiers with swords was perceived again and over the decades at the beginning of the 20th century swordsmiths again found work. These swords, known as 'gunto', are often very low in quality with many being oil tempered or simply stamped out of steel and given a serial number rather than a chiselled signature.
Katana remained in use in some occupations, police sometimes using katana not only to catch criminals but to defend themselves from criminals who could be armed with katana as well. At the same time, Kendo was incorporated into police training so that police officers would have at least the minimal training necessary to properly use one.
[image] Though this was a dark time for the katana, the craft was kept alive through the efforts of a few individuals, and notably the Gassan line of smiths who were employed as Imperial Artisans. These smiths, Gassan Sadakazu and Gassan Sadakatsu were kept busy producing fine works that stand with the best of the older blades for the Emperor and other high ranking officials. The students of Gassan Sadakatsu went on to be designated Intangible Cultural Assets, or more commonly known as Living National Treasures, as they embodied knowledge that was considered to be fundamentally important to the Japanese identity. In 1938 the Japanese government issued a military specification for what it called the "Type 98 katana", and many machine- and handcrafted swords used in World War II conformed to this specification.
Under the United States occupation at the end of World War II all armed forces were disbanded and, except under several permits issued by police and municipal government, production of katana with edges was banned. This ban would be later overturned through the personal appeal of Dr. Homma Junji to General Douglas MacArthur. During their meeting, Dr. Homma produced blades from the various periods of Japanese history and General MacArthur was a quick student, being able to identify very quickly what blades held artistic merit and which could be considered purely weapons. As a result of this meeting, the general ban was amended so that the weapon grade gunto would be destroyed and swords of artistic merit could be owned and preserved. Even so, many katana were sold to American soldiers who had money to spend at a bargain price. Some were simply stolen. Others remained stashed away.
Due to this disarmament, as of 1958 there were more Japanese swords in America than in Japan: American soldiers would return from the Orient with piles of swords, often as many as they could carry. The vast majority of these 1,000,000 or more swords were gunto, but there were still a sizable number of koto, shinto and shin-shinto.
Swordsmiths had been increasingly turning to producing civilian goods after the Edo period but this disarmament and subsequent regulations almost put an end to the production of katana. A few smiths did continue their trade, and Dr. Homma went on to be a founding figure of the Nihon Bijitsu Hozon Token Kai, the 'Society for the Preservation of Art Swords', who made it their mission to preserve the old techniques and blades. With the efforts of other like minded individuals, the katana has arisen from its darkest day and many swordsmiths have continued the work begun by Munetsugu, re-discovering the old techniques and making the art swords produced by today's best smiths as good as many of the blades of old.
A chisa-katana is simply a shorter katana. A katana was longer than two Shaku in length (one shaku= about 11.93 inches). However, a chisa-katana is longer than the Wakizashi, which was between one and two shaku in length. Chisa-katana were not common weapons since usually a katana was made for a shorter person or a wakizashi for a larger person. The most common reference to a chisa-katana is a shorter katana that does not have a companion Blade. They were most commonly made in the Buke-Zukuri mounting.
| Soshu School | Yamato School | Bizen School |
| Yamashiro School | Mino School (e.g. Kanenobu) | Wakimono School |
| Before 987: | Some straight 'chokuto' or 'jokoto' and others with unusual shapes. |
| 987 - 1597: | A 'koto': these are considered the pinnacle of Japanese swordcraft. Early models had uneven curves with the deepest part of the curve at the hilt. As eras changed the center of the curve tended to move up the blade. |
| 1597 - 1760: | Known as 'shinto', or 'new sword'. These are considered inferior to most koto, and generally coincide with a degradation in manufacturing skills. |
| 1761 - 1876: | If made in koto style, these are called 'shinshinto', or 'new revival swords' (literally 'new new swords'). These are considered superior to most shinto, but worse than koto. |
| 1876+: | Post-Haitorei Edict. Any mass-produced blade is derisively called 'gunto'. These often look like Western cavalry sabers rather than katana, although most are just like katana, with many mass-produced and in general slightly shorter than blades of the shinto and shinshinto periods. |
| Before 1500: | Most swords worn suspended from cords on a belt, blade-down. This style is called 'jindachi-zukuri', and all daito worn in this fashion are 'tachi'. |
| 1500 - 1867: | Almost all swords are worn through a sash, paired with a smaller blade. Both blades are blade-up. This style is called 'buke-zukuri', and all daito worn in this fashion are 'katana'. |
| 1876+: | Due to restrictions and/or the destruction of the Samurai class, most blades are worn jindachi-zukuri style, like Western navy officers. Recently (1953+) there is a resurgence in buke-zukuri style, permitted only for demonstration purposes. |
The distinctive curvature of the katana is partly due to a process of differential quenching. The back of the sword is coated with clay, insulating it and so causing it to cool slower than the edge when the blade is quenched. This produces a blade with a hard edge and soft back, allowing it to be resilient and yet retain a good cutting edge.
This process also makes the edge of the blade contract less than the back when cooling down, something that aids the smith in establishing the curvature of the blade.
While some people believe that katana and Wakizashi were constructed alike, this was not always the case. They were often forged with different profiles, different blade thicknesses, and varying amounts of niku. Wakizashi were also not simply a 'scaled down' katana, they were often forged in hira-zukuri or other such forms, which were very rare on katana.
Manufacturing processes are described in greater detail in following subsections.
One more modern formula (from World War II):
| Mineral composition: | |
| Iron | 98.12% to 95.22% |
| Carbon | 3.00% to 0.10% |
| Copper | 1.54% |
| Manganese | 0.11% |
| Tungsten | 0.05% |
| Molybdenum | 0.04% |
| Titanium | 0.02% |
| Silicon | Varying amount |
| Miscellaneous compounds | Trace amount |
The most famous part of the manufacturing process was the folding of the steel. Steel was repeatedly 'folded', bent over itself and hammered flat. This did several things:
Contrary to popular belief, continued folding will not create a "super-strong" blade; once impurities are burnt off and the carbon content homogenized, further folding offers little benefit and will gradually burn out the carbon, leading eventually to a softer steel less able to hold an edge. The number of folds varied from sword to sword, but those with more than about a dozen folds are uncommon, and authentic swords with more than two dozen folds are unknown. It should be noted that a blade folded 12 times will have more than 4,000 'layers' underneath the initial blade to begin with, and that 20 folds would produce a blade with over a million layers. Beyond this number, the molecular structure of the blade is such that further folding would most likely serve no further purpose.
Generally, swords were created with the grain of the blade (called 'hada') running down the blade like the grain on a plank of wood. Straight grains were called 'masame-hada', whereas wavy grains were called 'ayasugi-hada'. Certain schools of construction had the grain running directly into the blade, resulting in a ringed pattern. If it resembled stretched knotted wood, it was called 'itame-hada'; if it was round in shape, it was called 'mokume-hada'. The difference is one of cutting a tree perpendicular to its direction of growth (mokume) or at an angle (itame), the angle causing the "stretched" pattern. The blades that were considered the most robust, reliable, and of highest quality were those made in the Bizen tradition, which specialized in mokume.
One of the core philosophies of the Japanese sword is that it has a single edge. This means that the rear of the sword can be used to reinforce the edge, and the Japanese took full advantage of this fact. When finished, the steel is not quenched or tempered in the conventional European fashion. Steel’s exact flex and strength vary dramatically with heat variation, and depending on how hot it gets and how fast it cools, the steel has vastly different properties. If steel cools quickly, from a hot temperature, it becomes Martensite, which is very hard but brittle. Slower, from a lower temperature, and it becomes Pearlite, which has significantly more flex but doesn’t hold an edge. To control the cooling, the sword is heated and painted with layers of sticky mud. A thin layer on the edge of the sword ensures quick cooling, but not so fast as to crack the sword steel (this makes the actual edge of the sword extremely hard martensite). A thicker layer of mud on the rest of the blade causes slower cooling, and softer steel, giving the blade the flex it needs (this makes the rear and inside of the sword into pearlite). When the application is finished, the sword is quenched and hardens correctly.
Eventually the Japanese began to experiment with using different types of steel in different parts of the sword. Examples are shown below:
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The vast majority of 'good' katana and wakazashi are of 'wariba-gitae' type, but the more complex models allow for parrying without fear of damaging the side of the blade. The last generally accepted model, the 'shiho-zume-gitae', is quite rare, but added a rear support.
The 'makuri-gitae' is made using two steels, one folded more times than the other, or of a lesser carbon content. When both sections have been folded adequately, they are bent into a 'U' shape and the softer piece is inserted into the harder piece, at which point they are hammered out into a long blade shape. By the end of the process, the two pieces of steel are fused together, but retain their differences in hardness. To make han-sanmai-awase-gitae or shiho-zume-gitae, pieces of hard steel are then added to the outside of the blade in a similar fashion.
The shinogi can be placed near the back of the blade for a longer, sharper, more fragile tip or a more moderate shinogi near the center of the blade.
The sword also has an exact tip shape, which is considered an extremely important characteristic: the tip can be long (o-kissaki), short (ko-kissaki), medium (chu-kissaki), or even hooked backwards (ikuri-o-kissaki). In addition, whether the front edge of the tip is curved (fukura-tsuku) or straight (fukura-kareru) is also important.
A hole is drilled into the tang, called a mekugi-ana. It is used to anchor the blade using a mekugi, a small pin that is inserted into another cavity in the Tsuka and through the mekugi-ana. Thus restricting the blade from slipping out. To remove the Tsuka you must remove the mekugi.
Some other marks on the blade are aesthetic: signatures and dedications written in kanji and engravings depicting gods, dragons, or other 'acceptable' beings, called horimono. Some are more practical, grooves for lightening and extra flex (as well as an intimidating sound, called tachikaze, when swung with force). Grooves come in wide (bo-hi), twin narrow (futasuji-hi), twin wide and narrow (bo-hi ni tsure-hi), short (koshi-hi), twin short (gomabushi), twin long with joined tips (shobu-hi), twin long with irregular breaks (kuichigai-hi), and halberd-style (naginata-hi). Contrary to popular belief, these grooves have nothing to do with improving the flow of enemy blood.
One of the ways which blades can be judged is by what this polishing reveals: the crystal-like qualities of the blade become quite visible, and the hamon (known in English as the temper line, where the sharp edge fades into the normal steel of the blade) shows the unique nature of the sword. Each blade is distinct in its hamon and the grain (hada) of its steel. The hamon, which is determined primarily by how the mud is applied, is often used as a kind of signature of the smith, above and beyond his own signature, and each tradition of swordsmiths often has a particular style of hamon it prefers over all others. Hamon vary from straight to wavy to shaped like crabs or zigzags, and in their wandering they reveal important facts about the blade itself. A good polishing reveals what speed the edge was cooled at, from what temperature, and what the carbon content of the steel is. This is because it displays either nioi, which is a mix of extremely fine martensite with troostite (another type of tempered steel), or the more crystalline and obvious nie, which contains a lot of less fine martensite.
There is a pommel at the base known as a kashira, and there is often a decoration under the criss-crossed wrappings called a menuki. A bamboo peg called a mekugi is slipped through the tsuka and through the tang of the blade, using the hole called a mekugiana drilled in it. This anchors the blade securely into the hilt. To anchor the blade securely into the sheath it will soon have, the blade acquires a collar, or habaki, which extends an inch or so past the cross guard and keeps the blade from rattling.
The sheaths themselves are not an easy task. There are two types of sheaths, both of which require the same exacting work. One is the shira-saya, which is generally made of wood and considered the 'resting' sheath, used as a storage sheath. The other sheath is the more decorative or battle-worthy sheath which is usually called either a jindachi-zukuri or a buke-zukuri, depending on whether it was supposed to be suspended from the obi(belt) by straps when the sword is mounted in Tachi-Koshirae or thrust through the obi if mounted as katana-koshirae, respectively. Other types of mounting include the kyu-gunto, shin-gunto, and kai-gunto types for the twentieth-century military, but these swords were generally mass-produced and highly inferior, and few true Japanese swords are mounted in these styles.
In certain eras, the sword becomes longer and is intended for use from horseback. At the same time, footmen may accompany a horseman and be armed with shorter katate-uchi at their side. This is a katana with a shortened length and handle, intended for one handed fighting only.
As armor and enemies changed over time, the shapes of blades changed from heavier profiles to lighter profiles, with different intentions for use in fighting.
The sword was mostly considered as the weapon of last resort on the battlefield though, being used only after the bow, or spear was no longer feasable. However, during the Edo period Samurai went about unarmored and armed with daisho, in which case it would be the first weapon to be used.
While blades folded hundreds, thousands, or even millions of times are encountered in fiction, there is no record of real blades being folded more than around thirty times. With each fold made by the maker, every internal layer is also folded, and so the total number of layers in a sword blade is doubled at each fold; since the thickness of a katana blade is less than 230 iron atoms, going beyond thirty folds no longer adds meaningfully to the number of layers in the blade.
Furthermore, while heating and folding serves to even out the distribution of carbon throughout the blade, a small amount of carbon is also 'burnt out' of the steel in this process; repeated folding will eventually remove most of the carbon, turning the material into softer iron and reducing its ability to hold a sharp edge.
Some swords were reputed to reflect their creators' personalities. Those made by Muramasa had a reputation for violence and bloodshed, while those made by Masamune were considered weapons of peace. A popular legend tells of what happens when two swords made by Muramasa and Masamune were held in a stream carrying fallen leaves: while those leaves touching the Muramasa blade were cut in two, those coming towards the Masamune suddenly changed course and went around the blade without touching it.
Kusanagi (probably a Tsurugi, a type of bronze Age sword which precedes the katana by centuries) is the most famous legendary sword in Japanese mythology, involved in several folk stories. Along with the Jewel and the Mirror, it was one of the three godly treasures of Japan.
It is the prime weapon of choice for Japanese heroes in historical fiction set before the Meiji period. Carrying a non-sealed katana is illegal in present-day Japan, but in fiction this law is often ignored or circumvented to allow characters to carry katana as a matter of Artistic licence. For instance, some stories state that carrying weapons has been permitted due to a serious increase in crimes or an invasion of monsters from other dimensions. With this law in mind, katana is sometimes used as a comic relief in anime and manga set in the present, although this is sometimes replaced by the use of a Bokken having surprisingly comparable capabilities.
In many works, especially when magical or supernatural powers are significant story elements, katana are more than a match for any other weapons. In some cases, writers make a new weapon based on ideas from katana, as a signature weapon of heroes and villains. The Lightsaber is an example of such a weapon. Leonardo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles also is the Master of the Twin Katana blades.
See also List of fictional swords
Because Japan was an iron-poor society, making a sword was an intrinsically expensive undertaking; the supply of swords was limited, and so it was in the smiths' interest to make the most of the materials they could afford. Europe also had superlative swordsmiths; Toledo steel swords from Spain are one example of legendary quality swords from outside Japan. However, the greater availability of iron made it practical to produce cheap, low-quality weapons in large quantities. Where Europeans had the choice between expensive good swords and cheap bad swords, Japanese had the choice between expensive swords, somewhat less expensive swords, or none at all.
Some European swords were also designed for different modes of combat. The katana's sharpness makes it an excellent cutting weapon, suitable for use against lightly-armoured opponents, but easily damaged when used against heavier armour; its curvature further aids its cutting power, but weakens it as a thrusting weapon. In this light, the different characteristics of certain European swords are due less to the limitations of their makers than to the requirements of their use. Attempting to establish the superiority of the one weapon over the other is ultimately meaningless without first defining the circumstances in which they are to be compared.
At the same time, many European sword types from the very beginning of the history of the sword, through the medieval period and the renaissance to the 20th century were designed for the same combat modes as Japanese ones, fighting against lightly-armored or unarmored infantry. Styles that relied on a single longsword for both offense and defense were well known - see e.g. Joachim Meyer's fechtbuch - and disparities in weight have been greatly exaggerated; both longswords and katanas typically weighed between 1.0 and 1.5 kilograms (2-3 pounds).