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The Japanese Sword -- Part One

© Lance Lindley

For centuries, the Japanese samurai sword has been hailed as the finest weapon of its type in the world. Its fame derives from two qualities: its efficient functionality as a razor-sharp, durable killing tool, and its terrible beauty as a work of art. Of course, the two are not entirely separate, for on the surface, the katana is nothing more than a curved strip of metal with a few adornments. It is not so much the eye's attraction to the shape, then, as the brain's appreciation for how perfectly suited it is to its task that makes the samurai sword into what we would call "art."

To quote from Kanzan Sato's The Japanese Sword, "The Japanese sword combines unbreakability, rigidity and lethal cutting power, and it is in the resolution of these conflicting practical requirements that it emerges as a triumph of the forger's art. The mystique of the sword lingers on in our age of mechanized combat, but the aesthetic qualities for which swords are most valued by collectors today - the liveliness of the metal skin, the confidence in every aspect of the design, the scrolling temper-line, the almost buoyant lightness of the hilt when the blade is held in the hand - all derive from what the Japanese sword demanded as a symbol of strength and as a weapon. As an instrument of strength and as a weapon, no other blade anywhere has ever been its equal."

The sword also draws its classification as "art" from the process by which it is manufactured.

You see, a machine-made samurai sword would be nothing more than a weapon. In fact, one cannot own a machine-made sword in Japan. You can purchase them here, but you cannot even carry them out of the store. You must give the proprietor a foreign address to which you want it shipped. (This rule doesn't apply to soft-steel-only swords used for martial arts training, such as the iaitou.)

A handmade sword, however, is considered art; so much so that the foreign buyer may have a difficult time getting it out of Japan. The sword is such a part of the national heritage that many swords have been deemed "Important Cultural Properties" and a few even the highest rank of "National Treasures." More amazingly, some of today's sword blacksmiths have been honored with the rank of "Living National Treasure," a title granted to the highest masters of a handful of ancient "traditional" Japanese arts and crafts. The finest swords in Japan are known as meitou, or "swords with a name." Many of these swords truly have a name, given to them most often by the famous samurai general or ruler who wielded it. Others are less famous but were made by a renowned smith.

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