Sarcasm Alley

"The sword is the soul of the samurai."
-Tokugawa Ieyasu, third and final unifier of Japan

No other country has a relationship between the sword and its culture like the Japans. Though during the warring eras, the bow (and at the end, the gun) was more the primary weapon, the sword is the one constant in the Japanese armory. For samurai, the ruling class of Japan for 800 years, the carrying of a long sword in public denoted their status and they had the unquestionable right to cut down any commoner who offended them. (If you're suspecting most samurai were assholes, you're right.)

Sword making as an art almost died out after WWII when the making of swords was outlawed by the American occupation. That decree was lifted in 1953, and members of what was called the "lost generation" of sword smiths returned to their craft and over the decades it has completely regained its vitality and the selling of katana swords is a thriving industry. Most modern versions, however, are not made the ancient way.

Sword making in Japan blossomed in the 12th century as techniques were refined to bring us the famous curved shape we know today (original swords were straight). Some katanas of this period are considered the finest ever made and are kept as national treasures, handed down from generation to generation. And though many secrets of their making have been lost, the art lives on even with superior technology making the folding of the steel obsolete in recent years. Regardless, the problem of steel remains:

To produce their superlative blades, Japanese artisans had to overcome a problem that had baffled all armorers throughout the world since the earliest time of recorded history. Sword makers could make steel very hard so that it would hold a sharp edge. However, making steel very hard also made it very brittle and often in battle a sword would be broken if hit just right against another sword or object. The sword makers knew how to make soft steel that would be less brittle and would not break in battle. However soft steel would not hold a sharp edge and it would quickly dull in battle and would not be able to cut through armor or hack of limbs and heads as a good sword was expected to do.

The solution? Simply put, it was to encase softer, less brittle steel (shingane) within razor sharp hardened steel (kawagane) to provide the best of both worlds. The soft steel gave a supple yet strong support as backbone when striking while the extremely hardened steel maintained its edge even through repeated use. The difference between the metals also causes the curvature of the sword as each substance cools at different rates creating a natural bend in the blade. Obviously, it takes a great deal of skill and knowledge not to make too great or too little of a curve.

The properties of steel - particularly its hardness and ductility - depend on the carbon-to-iron ratio and how it is heated and cooled as it's processed. Carbon content for a typical Japanese blade is 0.7%. As it's heated and cooled, the crystalline structure changes depending on the initial temperature and the rate of dissipation. A slow cooling releases carbon (softening it) while a quick splash into water traps the carbon. By varying these methods, artisans are able to control the final properties of the steel. Traditional sword making takes years of apprenticeship and the honing of one's skills with a complete dedication to the craft.

Tamahagane is the gold dust for traditional sword making. In iron rich regions of Japan, a melting pot of iron ore sand and charcoal is stoked for seventy two straight hours. By the time the smelting is done, 13 tons of charcoal and 8 tons of iron ore sand have been consumed, leaving two tons of iron and steel which is then sorted out for suitability for forging. It's been done this way for hundreds of years.

In the centuries of warfare that shaped Japan in both its beauty and horror, sword smiths were considered quasi-alchemists, turning rough metal into shiny blades of artful death. For nearly a century Japan was a country with no government, no rules - but for the sword. Oda Nobunaga, the first great unifier of Japan made it clear his aim was to bring the nation "under one sword". Days of shiny glints of steel poised for battle in the midday sun passed on, but in the Japanese heart, the sword lives forever.

The wavy line you see is called the hamon. The sword maker
determines the style and depth of it using clay
to retard the cooling around part of the blade.

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Katana swords in Japanese culture:

Sword in battle

Now you see why I'm an anarchist

The sword is never obsolete in Japan

Musashi Miyamoto, considered the greatest swordsman
in history. Note his use of two swords. Musashi didn't
defeat individuals, he defeated an entire dojo of swordsmen.