Statistically, there were around 1 1/2
million swords existing before World War II. Around 1/3 of them were over 2 feet in length
(daito). At present, there are more samurai swords in the United Sates than there are in
Japan. Japan has no more than 100,000 swords today. Around 250,000 to 350,000 swords has
been brought into United States as war souvenirs by returning servicemen after the end of
Pacific War during the occupation of Japan. Most of them are long sword (daito) which is
formerly used by Japanese commissioned and non-commissioned officers. Around 70% of the
long sword are in United States today. Swords of buke-zukuri type, neo-army (shin-gunto)
type, proto-army type (kyu-gunto) type, police sabers, army parade sabers, navy types, ken
and jindachi-zukuri types have been brought into United States.
Samurai swords can be classified by length or by the types of mountings.
Classifications of swords by length
Japanese use the shaku to measure the length of the cutting edge of the samurai swords. 1
shaku = 11.903542 inches.
Long Sword (Daito): over 2 shaku in length; there are the longer of the two swords
commonly worn by the samurai; difficult to temper a daito because of its length.
Medium Sword (Wakizashi): 1~2 shaku in length; worn by samurai as auxiliary sword, or by
non-samurai, who were allowed to wear no more than one sword of this length.
Short Sword (Tanto): less than 1 shaku in length; the shorter of the two swords worn by
the samurai as auxiliary swords. Women and tradesmen used them as protective weapons.
Commonly called as hara-kiri knives. They are usually the hira-zukuri (without ridgeline)
types.
Classifications of Swords by mountings
Ken mountings: The oldest type known for
swords of the ancient sword period. Straight, either single or double-edged blades.
Jindachi-zukuri mountings: For the long sword of the Old Sword period and were 4 ~ 5 feet
in length. There were two rings on the scabbard because the swords worn suspended from the
hip by cords. Many imitations of these mountings copied in the past one hundred years in
some areas of Japan.
Buke-zukuri mountings: Come from the New Sword period. The handle is bound with narrow
tape or leather thongs. There were no rings attached to the scabbards because the words
were worn on the left hip, inserted between the hip and the sash and not suspended. The
full length of this mounting was 3 ½ ~ 4 ½ feet. This is the most common and is of great
interest to connoisseurs. There have pockets for a kozuka (utility knife), a kogai
(skewer), or a set of wari-bashi (split chopsticks) near the mouth of the scabbard. At the
most, only two of these three itens were carried in the pockets of a scabbard.
Shira-saya mountings: Made of plain wood and were used to protect the blade or to replace
a damaged mounting. It has no guard. It is also called as yasume-zaya (resting scabbard).
This type is convenient for protecting a blade or an original mounting. A substitute blade
(tsunagi) of wood or bamboo will be inserted to preserve the mounting when a blade is not
kept in its original mounting.
Gunto (Army and navy swords) and their mountings
Kyu-gunto (proto-army sword) mountings: The scabbard was chrome plated. The handle was
wrapped with shark or giant-ray skin and bound with gold-colored wire. There was a strip
of metal starting at the base to the top of the hilt.
Shin-gunto (neo-army sword) mountings: The scabbard of this type resembles that of
jindachi-zukuri mounting but is made of brown-colored metal and usually covered with
leather when used in combat area. The handle, which is bound by leather thongs or cord,
resembles that of buke-zukuri type. The handle usually has cherry-blossom designs on its
pommels and ornaments. Blue color of tassel is for company grade; red is for field grade;
red and gold is for general grade.
Kaigunto (naval sword) mountings: Three types of swords used by the officers of the
Japanese navy: (1) about 15 inches long short sword; (2)long and bears a close resemblance
to the jindachi-zukuri type or new-army type; having two rings attached to its dark
scabbard. (3) long, but narrow and looks like a police saber.
Shikomi-zue (Sword cane) mountings: Made after the Meiji Restoration and most of
them are of a poor grade.
There are two main parts of the sword:
(1) The blade
(2) The mountings
Composite of the blade
The point (Kissaki):
The point is the most difficult part of a sword to forge and to polish. The value of the
sword is mainly determined by the condition of its point. Tempered lines (boshi) on a
point need not necessarily be identical on both sides of the blade. Points can be
classified into different types of the blade regardless of size, by size and shape, or by
their tempered lines (boshi):
Dividing line of surface and point (Yokote)
Ridgeline (Shinogi): This line will not found on hira-zukuri blades.
Upper surface or ridge area (Shinogi-ji): Wide or narrow
Surface (Ji) and surface decoration:
- Grooves: were made for preventing the sword from bending and to lesser weight
originally. Gradually were made for pure decoration.
- Carvings and inscriptions: A sword is not necessarily a good sword only because of its
carvings or inscriptions on its surface or upper surface.
Tempered line (Yaki-ba): It is a continuous straight or wavelike line running the length
of the blade. When skillfully polished, the tempered line, which is the hardest part of
the steel, takes on a white color. It represents the most beautiful feature of samurai
swords and is the most important item in their appraisal.
Back or top ridge (Mune)
Curvature (Sori): It is measured at the top ridge of a sword. Curvatures are classified
into 2 types: deep and shallow.
Tang (Nakago): It fits in the handle or hilt. It is important in appraising samurai swords
because they often reveal the date of a sword’s construction and the identity of its
maker. It can be classified by the shapes of tangs, shape of tips of tangs, file marks on
tangs (yasuri-me), rivet hole in the tang (mekugi-ana) or the inscriptions on tangs.
Mountings
Including all the fittings and furniture of the sword exclusive of the blade. Mountings
are classified by:
Scabbard (Saya): It is made of wood to protect the blade. It is lacquered or inlaid
usually. Some scabbards have pockets that we mentioned before.
Guard (Tsuba): It is made of steel, copper, silver or some other metal to protect the palm
of the hand when holding the sword. It is usually has patterns or designs on both sides.
More decorative design with maker’s signature will usually at the front side and the
backside is usually less decorative. People like to do collection of tsuba because of the
beautiful craftsmanship displayed in their construction. The front side of tsuba always
face toward the hilt when mountings are assembled.
Hilt or handle (Tsuka): It is made of wood and is wrapped in ray skin and taped that made
of silk, leather, or cotton and may be either broad flat tape or cords wound in sets.
Collar (Habaki): It is made to prevent the blade from rattling in the scabbard and from
slipping out of the scabbard.
Spaces or washers (Seppa)
Pommel or metal sleeve (Fuchi)
Rivet hole of the hilt (Mekugi-ana)
Hilt ornaments (Menuki): A hilt has a pair of menuki with identical designs or companion
or counterpart designs.
Pommel at base (Kashira)
Commonly, the samurai-sword blades are divided into the hira-zukuri type (without
ridgeline) and the shinogi-zukuri type (with ridgeline). There are eight different types
of the common samurai-sword blades:
Shinogi-zukuri, which is the most common and mostly found in long swords (daito).
Kanmuri-otoshi.
Unokubi-zukuri, which is found in short swords (tanto) after the late Kamakura period.
Shobu-zukuri, which was popular in the Muromachi period and generally, found in short
blades.
Moro-ha, which is found in the tanto from the mid-Muromachi period. Straight blades with
two cutting edges are known as ken.
Kata-kiri-ba, which is found in the short blades and was popular in the late Kamakura and
the Momoyama period.
Kata-shinogi, the blades are generally short.
Hita-zukuri, which is the most common type for short blades without ridgeline.
Besides, there are five different types of construction of the blades:
Maru-gitae, which is with one grade of steel and used for mass production. Usually the
swords reveal a smooth, grainless appearance on their surfaces.
Wariba-gitae, which is a better construction than Maru0gitae because harder blade-steel is
applied to the blade.
Makuri-gitae, which is with the soft core that, surrounded by hard steel.
Hon-sanmai-awase-gitae, which is the skin steel cover the soft core and harder blade
steel.
Shiho-zume-gitae, which is same as Hon-sanmai-awase-gitae with the addition of back steel.
The metal is heated, stretched and folded as many as twenty times before the sword assume
its final form. Fine layers appear on the ridge area and surface that is called the grain
(hada). There are different types of grains:
Plain (muji)
Straight grain (masame-hada)
Wood or wood-vein grain (itame-hada)
Burl grain (mokume-hada)
Curved grain (ayasugi-hada)
There were a lot of problems that faced by the smiths in the ancient times. The smiths
discovered that a sword with a razor-sharp blade very often broke off when used against
armor. However, an unbreakable blade made of soft steel would bend. Another issue was to
make the light sword for use in combat. The smiths found that the most satisfactory weight
for a sword is around 2 or 3 pounds. There are many methods of making swords. Some of the
methods have to go through many times of repeating process of heating and folding of the
steel. After that, the smith engraved his signature and the blade was transferred to the
polisher. Meanwhile, different artist will work on different parts of the swords like hilt
ornaments, handle bindings, guards, and the sheaths.
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