War played a major part in Japan’s history and the people were always developing new types of effectively weapons, and protection armor. Their early weapons mainly consisted of bows, arrows, and swords, along with protective helmets and whole body armor and this helped to reduce the amount of injuries and fatalities throughout the wars they endured. Japan’s history spans back to thousands of years. The history of the emergence of the Samurai sword during the war battles for land that was between three tribes such as the Minamoto, Taira and Fujiwara during the 9th and 12th centuries A,D.

The Samurai people were known for their expert fighting skills through being able to fight while riding on horseback and on the ground. It was found that they practiced their battle strategies in an armed and unarmed practice scenarios. They focused on fighting using a bows and arrows with good precision in aiming and meeting the target. Throughout the 12th and 13th century they began to focus more on using swords to fight instead of using the traditional bow and arrow battle equipment such as the the spears and a weapon called the naginata. The use of the swords allowed for the knights to fight in close combat. The creation of the Samurai swords were during the period of 11th to the 13th centuries and in this time and age are priceless collectibles.

The Samurai people carried two types of swords which are the diasho, a shorter kind of sword that is between 12 to 24 inches in length and the other is a daito-katana sword which is a longer sword and measured more in 24 inches in length.

The Samurai people named their weapons as they felt that it embodied a soul of being warrior.
The Samurai sword is designed with an intent to be a sharper and tougher sword and has a curved blade. It is made with a combination of iron and carbon metals. The swordsmith focuses on using hammers, along with fire and water in order to shape the sword into the proper needed shape. The sword’s strength and sharpness is able to cut through all bones of the body. It easily became the most popular sword to use during on foot battle.

The Samurai people were known to be well respected warriors in ancient Japanese culture. The Samurai swords were a part of their wardrobe and in many ways were expected to wear it wherever they went. It was not only considered a weapon but also is related to the symbol of pride, and honor. The swordsmiths or blacksmiths were those that fit of noble standards and high class standing because they crafted these powerful swords that were the essential importance of the Samurai warriors.

Japan’s ancient history of the Samurai sword shows how the warriors were very much spiritually connected to their weapons and became one with their swords while fighting in the war battles.

Later on, in the beginning of the Momoyama period (1568-1603), there was the evolution of the Uchigatana into a pair of blades that could be worn at the waist. The large sword was called a katana and the shorter one a wakizashi. The blades of these swords had a wider hamon and appeared in a more flashy way than was known on the tachi swords. The steel was more brighter and shiny and the texture of the steel was different of that of the Koto (old school) blades. The were no longer recognizable as having come from one of the five main schools and are sometimes considered as the 6e, the Shinto school.

Blades that date back from the Meiji times are called Gendaito or modern swords. Many of these blades were mass produced for officers in the imperial army. A lot of these swords had no hamon and were of a poor quality. The had the shape and the look of the traditional swords but didn’t had any hallmark when compared to the traditional hand forged tamahagane blades. The were not differentionally hardened and didn’t show any interesting grain pattern or texture in the blade. When any kind of these swords are found these days, the government requires that they need to be destroyed.

To prevent the production of ‘cheap’ Japanese swords with no aesthetic value on a large scale, the Japanese government decided to regulate the making of real swords. Following rules are still in effect today:

1. Only a licensed smith can make a Japanese sword. The definitions of a katana : any cutting instrument with a blade over 15 cm (6 inches) with a hamon and a rivet hole in the tang.
2. A licensed smith can produce a maximum of two long swords (over 61cm or 2 feet) or 3 short swords per month
3. All swords must be registered with the police

Many smiths today can easily produce double and if they could register them, they could be making more money so this law is a burden on the younger smiths and in a lot of cases a barrier to attract new people to this craft.

The technology that led to the development of the Japanese sword originated in China and was brought to Japan in the 4e-5e century A.D. At that time these swords were known as chokuto and did have a straight blade. There are scholars that do believe that a lot of these swords were made in China. By the Heian period (794-1185), the Japanese smiths made great process in improving their forging techniques and the straight swords changed to curved blades.

The main reason for this (changing from straight to curved) was the fact that the warriors that fought from horseback were in need of a ‘slashing’, and not a ‘trusting’ sword. The sword also had to be slightly longer and light enough in order to use it with one hand. So the Tachi was born. A nicely curved blade (with more sori than the katana we all know now) tapered strongly from the base of the blade to a very small point. These swords are also worn with the edge down, where the katana are worn with the edge up.

The hamonline that was developed during this period was more broad and Ashi started to appear. Ashi are almost invisible stripes of soft steel in the area of the hamon (hardened adge) that help limit the extend of damage should the blade begin to chip.

During the Kamakura period (1185-1333), when Japan was under the rule of a warrior class, smiths learned to insert a soft core of low carbon steel (more flexible) into the blade. This process is know as lamination and had several different techniques were the kobuse lamination is the most popular.

In the Nanbokucho period (1333-1392), many swordmaking methods were practiced throughout Japan and could be divided into 5 main schools :
1. Soshu – located at Kamakura , known for itame hada and midareba hamon in nie deki.
2. Bizen – located at Okayama, known for mokume hada and midareba hamon in nioi deki
3. Yamashiro – located at Kyoto , known for mokume hada and suguha hamon in nei deki
4. Yamato – located near Nara, known for masame hada and suguha hamon in nie deki
5. Mino – Located at Gifu, known for hard mokume hada and midareba mixed with togari-ba

These schools are called the Gokaden or the five traditions. Bizen was the most active and most popular school during these times.

Sources:
The Connoisseur’s Book of Japanese Swords
The craft of the Japanese Sword
Wikipedia