Japanese Samurai Katana

The Japanese Samurai were the master swordsmen of all time. They made the katana infamous as a lightening fast weapon that could cut through anything! In only seconds, these highly trained warriors could draw the katana, effortlessly wave it about their body in a butterfly motion with such great speed that you could barely comprehend where the hands had been. Imagine, in the time it takes to dial a phone number, this Japanese Samurai katana sliced through four rolled mats, two large melons and thrust forward into the center of an apple.

In the early 2nd century, Japanese swordsmiths started inserting softer cores into blades which significantly heightened sword flexibility. These new blades could withstand the impact of heavy blows on armor without breaking. As warfare changed in Japan, the mounted warrior's Tachi sword was redesigned for foot soldiers, and the katana was born.

The katana is a curved Japanese saber sword with lengths ranging between 2'-4' feet long. It was carried by the warrior class in Japan known by two names: Samurai (knights-retainers) and Bushi (warriors). Just as medieval knights were hired to protect the elite, the Samurai did the same but to a much greater degree.

For centuries, only the Samurai were permitted to carry sabers in Japan (until it was abolished in the 19th century). The katana (or daito) is a "long saber" and only one of three weapons carried by the Samurai warriors. The second shorter saber was a wakizachi (or Shoto, "short saber"), and the third was a kanto (dagger). As a pair, the katana and wakizachi are called daisho.

The word Samurai literally means 'the one who serves'. They were known for being not only fearless but incredibly loyal to their masters, even to the point of death. The Samurai code of chivalry was in two parts: the Kyuba no michi ("The Way of Horse and Bow") and the Bushido ("Way of the Warrior"). For the Samurai, Bushido was at the heart of their conduct and beliefs.

As great warriors, the Samurai mastered the sword, martial arts and many weapons including bows and spears. Of all weapons, the katana sword was favored most by the Samurai and was the most widely used of all Japanese swords. It was considered the source of the warrior spirit, and they revered katanas so deeply that names were bestowed upon their swords.

The philosophy of the Samurai was based upon "duty" and "freedom from fear." The Samurai had to transcend his fear of death to gain the peace and power to serve his master faithfully and loyally (and die with honor if necessary). More so than medieval knights, the Samurai strictly lived by their codes of honor, loyalty and the virtues of warriors doing battle. Any disgrace was so unacceptable to them that death was preferred to humiliation.

Deep honor and pride in absolute quality were the core of every swordsmith in the Japanese Guilds (social classes of sword makers). Each katana made had to be worthy of being signed on the blade's tang by the maker. To remove any question of quality, all test results were also recorded on the tang.

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Creating katanas was a very time consuming and secret art. Pieces of carbon steel were forged together, folded, pounded many times to remove almost all traces of carbon and to soften the steel. Next, the blade was applied to a second carbon steel sword, and beaten and forged more (possibly hundreds of times).

Tempering of the blade was a two part system. First, the entire blade was protected for the reheating, all but the edge. This was accomplished by covering the blade in a hardened paste of charcoal, clay, and powdered grinding stone followed by the removal of this coating from the edge. Now when the blade was reheated, only the edge would be heated.

The second phase was to heat the edge to a red hot glow and then carefully immerse just the edge into cool water. This allowed the edge of the blade to cool quickly while the rest of the blade cooled slower. The end result was a blade with a fine edge that maintained its flexibility. Finally the blade would be honed to sharpen it even more. (The parts of the katana are listed in our Japanese sword diagrams.)

In the tradition of the Japanese Samurai and the master Japanese sword makers (who took great pride their work), we only offer high carbon, fully functional, competition quality katanas.

We also offer the Hanwei Sword Cleaning Kit for the care and cleaning of your Katana.

Are you finding what you need? Whether you are looking for a unique gift or something special for yourself, we strive to help you make a sword or dagger selection with ease.

Please contact us with questions or additional needs.

References:

• Japanese Sword Arts FAQ Version 2.7 by Kjartan Clausen
• Japanese Blades: History & Tradition by The Adventurers' Guild
• Encarta
• Grolier Encyclopaedia
• Weapons, by Marian K. Stricker (Black Belt Magazine February, 1988)
• A Brief History of the Samurai by Mark McGee
• Katana History by Derrick Hampson
• History of Katana by aikbudo.com

If you have any questions about our products or would like to have us carry something you did not see here today, contact us and we will see what we can locate for you.

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