Let’s learn about the samurai sword history

It is said that the art of sword making originally came from China over 2,000 years ago. At that time, they were mostly used for prayers to nature and religious ceremonies, not for fighting.

So-called Japanese swords began to be made roughly 1,200 years ago.

It is believed that Japanese swords, which until then had been straight swords, gradually began to be improved into bayonets and evolved into more powerful swords just before the Heian period (794-1185).

Although the sword was used as a weapon, emperors and other figures of authority came to own swords as symbols of their authority.

In the late Heian period (794-1185), the power of soldiers became especially active, and regional battles became more frequent.

The swordsmith schools emerged in the Unbaku border region and Bizen Province, where high-quality iron sand could be obtained, and in Yamashiro and Yamato Provinces, which were the centers of politics and culture. The oldest swordsmiths with existing inscriptions are considered to be the Japanese swordsmiths.

In the Kamakura period, with the rise of the samurai, conflicts broke out in many countries, and demand for Japanese swords rose sharply[23]. period swords, and 70% are tachi swords [25][26].

In the mid Kamakura period, as a result of the emphasis on practicality, the width of the body became wider and the difference between the original width and the width of the tip became smaller, and the flat meat was well attached[32][34]. The sickle-shaped spearhead became wider and narrower, with an ikubi (boar’s-neck) shape, and the character of the samurai culture was well expressed[32][34]. The strength that characterized the rigid samurai culture was also reflected in the sword, and the tendency seen in the early Kamakura period became more pronounced, with a change in construction that made it possible to cut off robust armaments.

In the Warring States Period, swords were produced in various regions, with Bizen Province and Mino Province as the twin centers of sword production.

In the latter half of the 16th century, firearms were introduced through the Nanban trade, and Japanese sword smiths mass-produced improved firearms, and foot soldiers were armed with firearms. As a result of these changes in the battlefield environment, the naginata was abandoned in favor of the spear, the bow and the flintlock rifle were used interchangeably, and the tachi was replaced by the lighter and easier to carry uchigatana. The stately appearance of the tachi gradually became a symbol of authority for senior warriors.

The long-lasting Bizen Nagafune clan was destroyed by the repeated flooding of the Yoshii-gawa River about 500 years ago. This left the Bizen blacksmith tradition temporarily dormant.

From Mino province near Kyoto, swordsmiths migrated to Kyoto, Omi, Echizen, Owari, and Osaka. Among them, the Kendo family in Kyoto laid the technical foundation for the new swordsmithing period, including the exchange of techniques with the Kunihiro family who lived in Horikawa, Kyoto after moving from one part of Japan to another. Sword smiths from other countries joined one of the two schools and spread the techniques they had learned throughout the country.

During this period, there were no major wars, and swords became so popular that even common people could own a sword. They did not wear swords all the time like the samurai, but kept them in their homes for self-defense.

During the Edo period (1603-1867), there were no major wars, and Japanese swords were often possessed as an expression of one’s way of life or as a way of showing off one’s pride.

In the Meiji Era (1868-1912), the Japanese swordsmith and the sword entered a period of decline as the advanced culture and legal systems of the West were adopted and differences in status were abolished. However, subsequent world wars led to increased ownership of swords as weapons.

After the war, the swords were confiscated by the United States.

Today, swords may be displayed in museums as works of art, or each family possesses objects inherited from ancestors. Swords must be licensed by the government to be possessed. It is said that there are currently 2.6 million of them registered.

Japanese people often carefully oil and maintain the swords inherited from their ancestors, and many of them are still in existence today without rust. Japanese swords tell us how carefully Japanese people have treated their swords, which represent their spirit.