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Japanese swordsmithing is the labour-intensive bladesmithing process developed in Japan beginning in the sixth century for forging traditionally made bladed weapons [1] [2] including katana, wakizashi, tantō, yari, naginata, nagamaki, tachi, nodachi, ōdachi, kodachi, and ya.
Early Japanese iron-working techniques are known primarily from archaeological evidence dating to the Asuka period (538–710 CE). Iron was first brought to Japan during the earlier Yayoi period (900 BCE to 248 CE). Iron artifacts of the period include farm implements, arrowheads, and rarely a knife blade.
These tantō have a wide body, unlike his normal slim and elegant work, making them appear quite similar to a Japanese cooking knife. One of the three blades has a gomabashi in cutout ( sukashi ). It was restored around 1919 and sold for approximately 10 hiki (a certain number of mon ); this was worth roughly 14¢ US at the time, meaning that ...
The process of making tamahagane continues for 36–72 hours (a day and a half to three days), depending on how many people work and how much metal is to be obtained. Within an hour of smelting, the iron sand sinks to the bottom, called the bed of fire, in which it will be assessed by color to determine which parts of the smelt will be combined ...
According to the record of June 1, 1430 in the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, a Korean swordsmith who went to Japan and mastered the method of making Japanese swords presented a Japanese sword to the King of Korea and was rewarded for the excellent work which was no different from the swords made by the Japanese. [27] [28]
However, to maintain the quality of Japanese swords, the Japanese government limits the number of Japanese swords a swordsmith can make in a year to 24 (up to 2 swords per month). Therefore, many of the swords called "Japanese sword" distributed around the world today are made in China, and the manufacturing process and quality are not authorized.
Kenjutsu (剣術) is an umbrella term for all schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration. Some modern styles of kendo and iaido that were established in the 20th century also included modern forms of kenjutsu in their curriculum. [ 1 ]
The earliest swords forged in Japan (tsurugi and chokutō) reflect the similarities between the Japanese and Chinese swords of the time. [ 11 ] According to legend, Amakuni Yasutsuna developed the process of differentially hardening the blades around the 8th century AD, around the time that the tachi (curved sword) became popular.