The samurai swords, occasionally known as the Japanese katana, constitutes a somewhat curved blade commonly used in battles. There are four main periods of time that define the history of samurai swords, including the old sword period before the 1600s called Koto, the Shinto period which came about between the 1600s and the latter part of the 1800s, the Gendai, which ran from the end of the 1800s until the closing of World War II and the modern period of Shinsaku. Although these periods aid in shaping the evolution and modifications that occurred in the use of Japanese katanas, the swords were actually used as far back as 700 AD.

Although there has been little written about the old Japanese katana history, Japanese mythology attributes the conception of samarai swords to Amakuni Yasutsuna. He and his son worked for the Emporer of Japan and were in charge of constructing the swords for the Emporer\’s army. After coming back from combat, the Emporer and his army pass the work area of Amakuni and ignored him, which was uncommon. Amakuni noticed the swords they carried had been damaged during the battle.

After inspecting the damaged swords, Amakuni and his son realized the problem had been caused by bad forging and vowed to produce the perfect blade. They spent days praying to the Gods and after a week, the image of the Japanese katana came to them in a dream. Considering the sword to be divinely inspired, Amakuni delivered it to the emporer to use in battle. The following time they returned home, not a single blade had been damaged or broken.
The period from approximately 1200 through the closing of the fifteenth century are normally considered the golden age of the Japanese katana. These periods were called the Kamakura, which endured until approximately the mid-1300s and the Muromachi, which continued from around 1337 until 1573. The samurai swords fame was a restult of the Mongol intrusion of the country. The Japanese realized the importance of a strong national army and sword smiths went to work fashioning a weapon that would be suitable for this national defense.

The golden age of the Japanese katana was follwed by a dark time period in which a lot of the skills of sword-making were forgotten. The blades were being created too rapidly for it to feature the equivalent quality that was possible during the golden ages. Several swordsmiths also turned their attention to making guns around the mid 1500s, further decreasing the skills of sword makers since they were out of practice. Following the uniting of the country by the Shogun Hideyoshi, the peasants were disarmed and only the samurai bore swords. The country was at peace for four centuries and sword making was elevated to a fine art. The blades constructed during this period were known as Shinto, which stood for new sword in Japanese. They were ornamental in nature and were seldom, if ever, employed in conflict.

The modern age of the Japanese katana commenced after the Second World War. Swordsmiths inside of the country, as well as around the world, set about to recreate the forging methods employed during the height of the golden age of Japanese katana. A few makers have advanced the development of samurai swords by producing a virtually indestructible version of the Japanese katana.

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Category: Arts and Crafts
Keywords: samurai swords, japanese katana, samurai sword, samurai katana