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It is not possible to talk about Samurai without talking about their swords. During the ages they radically changed in form and, at the end, even in meaning. This article will not discuss ideals related to the sword, rather focusing on the change of the shape during the centuries, changes mostly due to practical reasons.
It is not possible to talk about Samurai without talking about their swords. During the ages they radically changed in form and, at the end, even in meaning. This article will not discuss ideals related to the sword, rather focusing on the change of the shape during the centuries, changes mostly due to practical reasons.
Japan entered the iron age quiet late in front of other civilizations and the China's influence,directly or thru the Korean peninsula, greatly influenced the first swords produced in Japan. Already in the VI century b.C. we have the insurgence of a Japanese taste in fittings but the design of the blades was still strongly influenced by the continent, being the fighting tactics equally imported from China and mainly based on masses of footsoldiers with spears and shields. When these tactics changed due to the fight against Emishi for domain of the Kanto plain, the advantages of a curved sword for horseback fighting begun evident to the japaneses, that already showed their tendence to practicality and skillfullness in adopting foreign items adapting and upgrading them to their needs. Is generally agreed that the fully developed Japanese sword appearance was around the 940 a.C., period in which we find the most ancient extant swords with all the characteristics needed in the "ideal" japanese sword : single edge differentially hardened with strong curvature. Some of these ancient blades already shows another peculiarity of the japanese sword : a softer steel inner core wrapped by one made of harder steel. It's debated if all such ancient blades are made the same way, but at least some shows that this technology was already used in this period.
Japan entered the iron age quiet late in front of other civilizations and the China's influence,directly or thru the Korean peninsula, greatly influenced the first swords produced in Japan. Already in the VI century b.C. we have the insurgence of a Japanese taste in fittings but the design of the blades was still strongly influenced by the continent, being the fighting tactics equally imported from China and mainly based on masses of footsoldiers with spears and shields. When these tactics changed due to the fight against Emishi for domain of the Kanto plain, the advantages of a curved sword for horseback fighting begun evident to the japaneses, that already showed their tendence to practicality and skillfullness in adopting foreign items adapting and upgrading them to their needs. Is generally agreed that the fully developed Japanese sword appearance was around the 940 a.C., period in which we find the most ancient extant swords with all the characteristics needed in the "ideal" japanese sword : single edge differentially hardened with strong curvature. Some of these ancient blades already shows another peculiarity of the japanese sword : a softer steel inner core wrapped by harder steel. It's debated if all such ancient blades are made the same way, but at least some shows that this technology was already used in this period.
The japanese swords are divided in periods as follows :
The japanese swords are divided in periods as follows :
