Swordsmiths throughout the world have been hindered by the mutually exclusive properties of toughness and hardness of steel. The trick is to make a blade hard enough to keep a cutting edge yet tough enough that it won't break too easily. In short, iron reacts with an excess of carbon at high temperatures. Cooled quickly it becomes hard and brittle as glass, too slowly it becomes soft and tough. The master swordsmith would heat and reheat the metal up to 15 times. This was so that all impurities would be removed. The final product would be harder than our modern steal. This shows just what level Japanese swordsmiths attained.
At age 5 a samurai boy would be given a wooden sword and from then on
he would never be without a weapon. At the age of 15 the boy was deemed
a man, and the responsibility of having a real sword was given to him.
The Sword Symbolized loyalty and honor. It would be near the bedside at
night and always within reach.
Unlike guns in the wild west, the sword had a proper time to be used.(5)
Here we have an 18th
century Refroduction of a sword mounting used at court since the Heian
period. (4)
And on the right we see a kogai, wich is an implelment carried in a
pocket on the front of a sword. As well as a kodzuka which is a handle
of a small utility knife carried in a pocket on the rear of a sword or
dirk scabbard.
Notice the winding dragon design.
Some scabbards and dirks had very elaborite designs, but most were
plain.
Here another dirk with a
design on the handle.