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| − | SAMURAI SWORDS
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| − | It is not possible to talk about Samurai without talking about their swords.
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| − | During the ages they radically changed in form and, at the end, even in
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| − | meaning. This article will not discuss ideals related to the sword, rather
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| − | focusing on the change of the shape during the centuries, changes mostly
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| − | due to practical reasons.
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| − | Japan entered the iron age quiet late in front of other civilizations and
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| − | the China's influence,directly or thru the Korean peninsula, greatly influenced the
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| − | first swords produced in Japan. Already in the VI cenruty b.C. we have the
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| − | insurgence of a Japanese taste in fittings but the design of the blades
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| − | was still strongly influenced by the continent, being the fighting tactics
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| − | equally imported from China and mainly based on masses of footsoldiers
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| − | with spears and shields.
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| − | When these tactics changed due to the fight against Emishi for domain of the
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| − | Kanto plain, the advantages of a curved sword for horseback fighting begun
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| − | evidents to the japaneses, that already showed their tendence to practicality
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| − | and skillfullness in adopting foreign items adapting and upgrading them to
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| − | their needs.
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| − | Is generally agreed that the fully developed Japanese sword appearance was
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| − | around the 940 a.C., period in which we find the most ancient extant swords
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| − | with all the characteristics needed in the "ideal" japanese sword :
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| − | single edge differentially hardened with strong curvature.
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| − | Some of these ancient blades already shows another peculiarity of the
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| − | japanese sword : a softer steel inner core wrapped by one made of harder
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| − | steel. It's debated if all such ancient blades are made the same way,
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| − | but at least some shows that this technology was already used in this
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| − | period.
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| − | The japanese swords are divided in periods as follows :
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| − | Jokoto 上古刀 pre-938
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| − | early Koto 初古刀 938 ~ 1319
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| − | middle Koto 中古刀 1319 ~ 1460
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| − | late Koto 末古刀 1460 ~ 1596
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| − | Keigen-Shinto 慶元新刀 1596 ~ 1624
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| − | Kanei-Shinto 寛永新刀 1624 ~ 1658
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| − | Kambun-Shinto 寛文新刀 1658 ~ 1684
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| − | Genroku-Shinto 元禄新刀 1684 ~ 1764
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| − | early Shinshinto 初新々刀 1764 ~ 1818
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| − | middle Shinshinto 中新々刀 1818 ~ 1854
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| − | late Shinshinto 末新々刀 1854 ~ 1868
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| − | Gendaito 現代刀 1868 ~ today
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| − | There is another term we usually find when talking about japanese swords :
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| − | Shinsakutô 新作刀. This means "recently made swords" and is referred to
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| − | swords made by a living smith and after 1952 when the 1945 ban of forging
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| − | swords ended. It's basically a sub-group of Gendaitô, because if the smith
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| − | pass away, for the NBTHK (Nippon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai) Shinsa
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| − | (judgement) the sword begins Gendaito.
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| − | The following layout shows the main "Sugata" (shape) changes of the japanese
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| − | sword with period and lenght (in shaku, 1 shaku = 30.3022 cm or 11.93 inches)
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| − | When you're reading about a Samurai fighting in the late Kamakura, most
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| − | likely his sword had the shape you'll find hereunder.
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| − | Thanks to Valdek Laur for it.
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