The Katana Through The Ages.pdf

The Katana through the ages

In this first part the Katana will be studied not as a simple piece of metal but as a

real symbol. The Katanas and their owners, the Samurai, have a preponderant place in

Japanese history. Everywhere in the country and at any time from the 10 th century to

World War II Japanese history has been linked with that of the Samurai. These Warriors

brought lots of modifications to the form of the katana. That is why each period of

Japanese history can be matched with a particular type of katana.

Until 10 th century : Early Japan

Although katanas did not yet exist this period is significant.As in the rest of the

world, the prehistoric inhabitants of the Japanese islands were gatherers, fishers and

hunters. Japan started to unify thanks to the introduction of the cultivation of rice (300BC

to 300AD) which created a social hierarchy. We increasingly find the biggest land

owners at the top of the social hierarchy. The country evolved under Chinese influence

which decreased only during the 8 th century. Times of trouble appeared. Each land owner

tended to extend his influence and the dominant clan changed frequently. The troubles

persisted until the era of the Fujiwara clan which reformed the country : a new

government headed by an emperor and an administrative system were established. Heian

(Kyoto) was chosen as the capital. All lands were redistributed among the farmers in

order to introduce a tax system.

10 th – 12 th century : Heian period

The emperor’s power declined, unlike that of the land owners. In fact the taxes

were so high that smaller owners were forced to become tenants of larger ones. Public

order was no longer maintained and a military class emerged : the samurai. These

warriors were in charge of the protection of property. They usually fought on horses and

the contexts were simple duels, where they used long, heavy swords (80 cm.). The main

characteristic of their swords was their curve. Earlier swords were straight. Only the

Samurai owned a curved sword and he was respected as representing his master’s power.

Only at the end of this period did the Japanese give interest to finely tremped (trempé)

katanas which were the most beautiful. The best smiths hence became more and more

renowned.

13 th century : Beginning of Kamakura period

As the emperor had lost power a coalition led by the Minamoto family took

control over Japan after defeating the emperor's army. The war lasted from 1180 to 1185

and opposed Samurai in duels which would be seen as Homeric by a spectator today. The

armour and the katanas became heavier and more sophisticated : The development of the

two necessarily went together. The finely tapered katana was replaced by a larger, thicker

and heavier one. Its use demanded a lot of strength and two-handing fighting techniques

began. After the war a feudal government headed by Minamoto Yoritomo was

established in Kamakura. The Minamoto family had a real military culture and when

Yoritomo became the leader of Japan he was appointed Shogun (highest military officer.)

The place of the Samurai changed : they acceded to the noble class. During the half

century which followed, "noble" even became a synonym of "Samurai". Moreover the

Shogun had little power over the Samurai-lords who were now feared and respected for

themselves. They became demanding about their katana and the forging had to make lots

of progress, both technical and artistic. This period was the golden age of the Japanese

sword. Nowadays artists, even with their high techniques, cannot reproduce the quality of

these blades.

13 th – early 14 th century : End of Kamakura period

In 1274, a few years after having conquered China, the Mongols tried to do the

same with Japan. After only a few hours of fighting, however, the large naval invasion

fleet was forced to pull back because of bad weather conditions. The Mongol force was

modern and the Samurai should have had no chance against it. Having a good preparation

the Japanese maintained a good defence for several weeks during a second invasion. Yet

the Mongols would not have been defeated once more without the kamikaze (divine

winds) which again drove back the invaders. The Japanese fought in duels after each

opponent had been presented, which was considered a mark of honour. Unlike the

Mongols, who fought in a group, the Japanese had little chance of victory. These events

brought changes. The armour became less heavy. The katana became easier to handle

both on horseback and on foot : the sword became more tapered, the tip became longer

and more pointed. After the war the shogun forgot to reward the Samurai who

consequently refused his authority.

14 th century : Nambokucho period

Helped by the Samurai, emperor Go-Daigo restored imperial power in Kyoto in

the year 1333. But he failed to satisfy those who helped him. Ashikaja Takauji and an

imperial lord banished Go-Daigo. Two imperial courts appeared, the southern one headed

by Go-Daigo and the northern one headed by Takauji, who appointed himself shogun.

Each Samurai wanted to show his bravery and chose a side to fight with. During little

more than 50 years lots of wars ─ the Nambokucho wars ─ opposed both clans. They

fought in groups and for the first time a war in Japan concerned all the Japanese people.

The Samurai's attitude changed : they forgot their strong ideas about honour and fought

treacherously. Moreover they wanted to differentiate themselves from ordinary soldiers.

The armour's ornaments became impressive and the katana became gigantic in order to

intimidate. The blade became longer ─ more than 90 cm ─, finer and more curved.

Handiness was not the main characteristic of this sword and the Samurai had to carry it

on his back. The use of a second sword became usual. This shorter katana, which

warriors used with only one hand, was called "Uchigatana" and "Tachi" was the name

given to the other bigger one. Thanks to the works of the artist Masamune, smiths

became able to mix metals of different densities. We will examine this technical aspect

further.

15 th – 16 th century : Muromachi period

In 1392 the southern court finally wins. They captured the Muromachi district

where north government buildings were located. This district in Kyoto became the

political centre of the reunited land. At the Beginning the peace induced a diminution in

the production of katanas. Even if some samurais had a tachi and an uchigatana, only the

uchigatana was used. The interest of Ming China in the katanas established good trade

relations. This event developed a new social class : the traders, who earn lots of money in

trading with China but between different parts of Japan too. The families composed at

once of land owners, traders and samurai became more and more powerful and surpassed

provincial constables. The influence of the emperor and the shogun declined to

practically nothing and new feudal lords called "Daimyo" exerted the actual control over

the different parts of Japan. Each daimyo wanted to extend his domination and Japan saw

an age of civil wars which began in1467 with the war of Onin. The renewed demand for

the production of katanas increased so much that the blacksmiths gave preference to the

quantity rather than beauty and quality. The uchigatana became smaller ─ 55 to 65 cm ─

and more curved. With those really small swords came "Iai's techniques" : striking the

enemy immediatly on drawing swords. In 1542 the first Portugese traders and Jesuit

missionaries arrived in Japan and introduced firearms and Christianity. Christianity was

welcomed but the firearms induced the reinforcement of the armour. The small

uchigatana was then abandoned and the two handed katanas reappeared.

1573 – 1603 : Momoyama period

The daimyo Oda Nobunaga reunified Japan by conquering the whole country. The

calm which followed and the discovery of gold mines allowed the whole country to grow

rich and to develop arts and culture. The big early tachis came back into fashion. The

samurai appreciated early tachis which had been just cut short or ordered katanas like

small tachis. Each forge developed its own style and the relationship between a powerful

samurai and his smith was very close. The new shogun makes one significant reform. He

confiscated all the weapons of all farmers. Every ugly sword forged during the civil wars

disappeared then. Subsequently only the samurai had the right to carry a pair of swords.

17 th – 18 th century: Beginning of Edo period

After the death of the Shogun Hideyoshi, his earlier partner Ieyasu became the

most powerful man in Japan. He killed all the successors of Hideyoshi and the emperor

appointed him Shogun. His government was established in Edo (Tokyo) and the whole

country was brought under tight control. He redistributed the land gained among the

daimyo : more loyal vassals received more important domains. Each daimyo who moved

brought with him his court and his smiths. This fact and the rising import of materials

explain the huge changes in the styles of the smiths. Before this event each smith had a

particular style. Earlier swords were named Ko-to and new ones Shin-to. New

sophisticated fencing techniques led the smiths to forge shorter, less curved blades with a

very pointed tip. Two styles emerged. In Edo, the political capital, the blades were plain

while in Osaka, the trade capital, the blades had to be more showy. During this time of

peace samurai were educating themselves not only in martial arts but also in literature,

philosophy and the arts.

End of 18 th century – 1868: End of Edo period

The traders became more and more powerful. The samurai wanted once again to

become warlords. Lots of corruption infiltrated the government. Furthermore Japan had

really bad contacts with its neighbour. The power of the Shogun consequently decreased.

The Japanese were so afraid both of a possible civil war and of external pressures

(Russian, European and American) that the trade of katanas rapidly rose again. Some

smiths tried to copy earlier swords. Other attempted to create new styles. But their blades

had not the qualities of the great katanas. In 1867-68 the government finally fell and the

power of Emperor Meiji was restored.

1868 – Nowadays : Meiji period and present day

The first act of Meiji was to open Japan towards the western countries in order to

develop trade and to profit from the western technologies. Social progress was rapid and

the samurai class was rapidly abolished. In 1876 to carry a sword was forbidden and the

katana industry disappeared. During World War II a great number of swords were

manufactured for the army but they cannot be called katanas because of their inferior

quality and the process of their creation. They were manufactured from simple barre de

metal. After the war the government of the United States wanted to destroy all weapons

in Japan but the katanas as works of art were saved. Nowadays a few smiths have the

official title of alive national treasure and forge blades whose quality approached that of

the earlier blades.

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