Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths: From 1868 to the Present [Hardcover]

Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths is a Kodansha International publication.

Introduction

The long history of the Japanese sword is divided into an accepted series of periods called Jokoto, Koto, Shinto, Shinshinto, and gendaito. These periods are one of the first things taught when one begins to study Japanese swords, since they are important in helping students to categorize swords when they see them for the first time. Placing swords in one of these categories or periods is the first step in analyzing or appreciating a new sword.

These sword periods correlate with historical events or changes which influenced the methods of combat and type of sword being made, as well as the methods of construction and styles of blades. The last, most recent period, gendaito, refers to modern blades, and the term came into use at the start of the Meiji era (1868-1912), when Japan began to modernize its military forces and the demand for traditional swords almost disappeared. Not only was Japan trying to bring itself into the modern age, and align itself with Western technology and influence, but its rulers decreed that it was no longer permissible to wear a sword in public and abolished the samurai class.

The beginning of the gendaito period occurred at a time when the traditional sword no longer had any practical use. This affected who made swords, how they were made, and their popularity. The craft of the Japanese sword almost died out with the onset of the modern period, and the Japanese sword probably went through more changes and critical events from the end of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century than it had during its entire previous long history.

Unlike the earlier history of the sword, which was well documented for over one thousand years, there is very little information readily available concerning the events of this modern period. The types of swords made during this period varied tremendously, from stamped bars of mill steel, which were mass-produced during the war effort and often referred to as gunto (military swords), to fully traditional blades as good as anything ever made in the past. The purpose of this book is to describe the major events of this modern period and to present some of the smiths working today.

The traditional, historical sword periods are important as a starting point in appreciating and in classifying Japanese swords, and if we are actually in a distinctly new period of Japanese sword history it is important to acknowledge and recognize this. A suitable recognition of this change in styles and quality might be to use a new designation for blades made in the late Showa era (1926-89) and the current Heisei era. We propose the term shin-gendaito (new modern swords), to differentiate them from the swords made during the early modern period up to the end of World War II. They are different from generic gendaito in several important ways, as we shall see later.

Characteristics of a Japanese Sword

A traditional Japanese sword is immediately recognizable, and typically it has a certain shape, characteristic features, and is made using established techniques and materials. These techniques and materials evolved over a long period beginning possibly in the fifth or sixth centuries, and were perfected during the Kamakura period (1194-1333) in the thirteenth century, about midway through the Koto period. The Japanese sword as we know it today is a direct descendant of, and very similar to, these thirteenth-century Koto swords. Classic swords made in Koto times are usually divided into five traditions: Yamato; Yamashiro; Bizen; Soshu; and Mino -- each with its own distinctive style. Traces of these styles and their influences can be seen everywhere in gendaito.

The traditional starting material for a Japanese sword is a type of steel called tamahagane. This steel is processed in a clay furnace called a tatara, using charcoal as a fuel and a type of iron ore, satetsu, found in the form of a fine sand. After the smelting process, a large steel block weighing about two tons, known as kera, remains in the base of the tatara. This kera is removed from the tatara and broken into fist-sized pieces using first a large weight (in Edo times) or a hydraulic hammer (today), and then sledgehammers. At this stage, about half of this steel is called tamahagane, suitable for sword-making, with a carbon content ranging from 0.6 to 1.5 percent. The tamahagane pieces are divided into four classifications, depending on the carbon content, and to an experienced eye this can be done by simply looking at the pieces.

The remaining kera falls outside the optimum carbon range (usually under 0.3 percent or over 2 percent), and costs about one fifth of the price of the highest grade tamahagane. This type of steel must be subjected to a carbon adjusting process, known as oroshi, by the smiths themselves to achieve the desired carbon content. Oroshi is carried out in the smiths' forge, and the resulting material is referred to as oroshigane.

Whether the swordsmith purchases his tamahagane directly or produces it through oroshi work, the steel used for forging will have specific properties necessary to make a traditional Japanese sword. The forging process involves heating, folding, hammering, and reheating the steel. When done the proper number of times (usually twelve or thirteen) and at the right temperatures, the process creates a more uniform carbon distribution in the steel and breaks up all of the slag or impurities. The resulting steel will be very tough and unlikely to break or crack in use and will have a very definite pattern on its surface, as well as a distinct color or texture. The steel surface will not be bright or mirrorlike. This is a very important characteristic of the Japanese sword: the steel surface will have a pattern (jihada) as well as a distinct texture or appearance (jigane).

Tamahagane steel allows the smith to heat treat the blade in such a way that only the edge is hardened and the body of the blade is left in a softer, less brittle form. This characteristic hardened edge, unique to the Japanese sword, has a different color from the body of the blade and is clearly visible. The pattern of the hardened edge is called a hamon, and the use of tamahagane along with proper techniques allows a trained smith to produce a wide variety of hamon patterns. Skillfully made hamon produced in tamahagane steel can include a wealth of fine details on their inside and along their boundaries, as well as very complex shapes and patterns. A hamon can contain so much detail that it can often be likened to a fingerprint of the work of a trained swordsmith.

The Japanese sword is made in a variety of shapes and sizes. Long swords are typically between twenty-seven inches (68 cm) and thirty inches (76 cm) long, but there are older blades with cutting edges up to sixty inches (152 cm) long, and some fifteenth-century examples made for shrines and temples are up to thirteen feet (4 m) long (though the majority of these large swords were made for ceremonial functions, not for combat).

Short swords are called wakizashi and are between twelve inches (30 cm) and twenty-four inches (60 cm) in length (note that these lengths refer to the cutting edges, not the overall lengths). The smallest blades are daggers called tanto and are twelve inches or less in length.

There are a variety of standard shapes for tanto and short and long swords. Typically a Japanese sword will have a single cutting edge, some curvature (sori), and near the center of the blade there is usually a ridge line (shinogi), which extends the full length of the blade up to the point area. However, there are variations of the most common shapes, so not all Japanese swords are described by the most commonly seen form....