Leon & Hiroko Kapp Yoshindo Yoshihara
The Art of the Japanese
Sword
The craft and its appreciation
Introduction by Leon Kapp The Japanese sword is a fascinating object and can be appreciated from a number of viewpoints: their functionality and utility as a weapon and the sophisticated metallurgy and scientific thinking of the craftsman who can make these swords. These swords are also a very unique art in steel: the most critical esthetic elements are the different steel crystal structures and forms in the sword, as well as the shape itself. In addition, there is a long history of these swords as weapons and they still serve as living examples of the improving and evolving technology used intheir construction. There is also an intimate connection between these swords and Japanese history because the shapes and other details of the sword constantly evolved and changed with Japanese history. Finally, it is very interesting to meet and learn from the craftsmen who make these swords today.
It appears likely that only Japan has completely preserved its traditional sword making technology from the feudal past, and this book is an effort to explain how to examine and appreciate these swords. The authors feel that a good understanding of how these swords are actually made can provide a background and knowledge which will allow people to appreciate them. Japanese swords are unique, both as a weapon and as art. In the past, these swords evolved to be very effective weapons, and were designed to cut well and efficiently. However, the properties and the design which makes them so effective as a weapon also makes them fascinating to look at, and make them a unique art in steel. The unique and sophisticated methods used to make them were perfected over hundreds of years in Japan, beginning sometime in the 4th to 6th centuries when the original swords and technology were imported into Japan from China via Korea. In Japan, swords are still made using completely traditional methods which were not lost during the transition from the feudal past into today’s modern world. Part of the fascination of these swords is their superb functionality, and the fact that they are made using iron ore smelted in a charcoal fueled furnace, and the steel is completely worked by hand, making each sword unique. The primary tools used are a charcoal fueled fire, a bellows design which dates back approximately 2200 years, and hammers and human labor. However, even with modern knowledge and metallurgy today, it is unlikely that a better steel sword can be made. Another interesting aspect of these swords is that it is difficult to see all of their essential details. In order to examine them, these swords must be clean, in good condition, it is necessary to have proper lighting, and it is necessary to hold the sword at a proper angle relative to the light. The Japanese swords one may see today will frequently be in very poor condition, and will not be examined under proper lighting conditions. This Simply examining and appreciating these swords can often be difficult.
The Japanese sword is appreciated as art, however these swords are difficult to examine in detail. In order to carefully observe all of the important details in a sword, it must be in good condition and with no rust on its surface, it must not be “tired”, that is, it must not be over-polished or have been poorly restored or repaired in the past. Poor restoration or polishing can ruin the shape and obscure details on the surface. However, even if these conditions are met, good lighting and some experience with the traditional Japanese methods of looking at these swords will be very helpful. The purpose of this book is to present the reader with a basic background about Japanese swords; to explain how to look at and appreciate the Japanese sword; and to show the details of how these swords are made and finished today. The craftsmen working today use completely traditional methods from the past to prepare their steel, forge the sword, and to create the unique hardened edge.
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Making a new Japanese sword does not stop with the sword smith. After the sword smith makes the sword, it goes to a polisher for the final shaping and a polish which will bring out all of the details of the steel surface; it then goes to a habaki maker to make a “habaki”, a unique Japanese fitting which supports the hilt of the blade and secures the blade into the scabbard; and finally, the sword goes to a scabbard maker to make a simple “shirasaya” (a simple scabbard designed to protect and preserve the sword), or a complete traditional functional mounting or “koshirae”. The work of the sword smith will be described here along with the work of the other craftsmen in finishing and mounting the sword. Some of the traditional and modern sword history will be described to explain the events which resulted in the preservation of the traditional Japanese sword making techniques from the past. The Yoshihara family has been active in making and promoting Japanese swords in Japan and internationally, and most of the modern work shown in this book are swords by Yoshindo Yoshihara and his family. Yoshindo’s grandfather, the first sword smith in his family, began making swords in the early 1930s in Tokyo and was considered one of the best sword smiths working at that time. Yoshindo and his brother Shoji are the 3rd generation in the family to make swords, and Yoshikazu, Yoshindo’s son, is the 4th generation to make swords. The topics covered in this book are appreciating and handling the sword, making the steel, making the sword, finishing the sword, a brief description of the sword’s metallurgy, some traditional and modern history, and the vocabulary used to describe the parts of the sword. Hopefully, this book will provide a comprehensive introduction to the Japanese sword, which will help readers to examine and appreciate these swords.
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CHAPTER I
Kansho Appreciation of the sword
APPRECIATION Examining a Japanese Sword Protecting and Maintaining a Sword Sword Terminology Examining a Hamon The Steel and Structure of the Japanese Sword Koshirae: Sword Mountings Thoughts on the Japanese Sword
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Yoshindo is holding a sword upright at arm’s length to examine the overall shape and proportions.
Examining a Japanese Sword
In this painting from 1129 AD, Prince Arisugawa is examining a sword. Notice the sword is being rested on the sleeve of his kimono. He is being very careful not to touch the sword with his bare skin. We follow this custom to this very day. This screen is from the Kitano-Tenmangu shrine. Reprinted with permission of the shrine.
size of the point. The thickness of the blade along with its weight and balance can also be examined.
Examining a Japanese sword and looking at all of the critical but subtle details is difficult. A proper look at these swords requires good lighting and a sword in good condition with a good polish. When looking at a sword, there are three major aspects to think about: 1) the shape, 2) the steel surface, and 3) the pattern on the hardened cutting edge called the hamon.
Next, one can examine surface of the steel. In this case, one looks at the flat side of the blade with a good light source above and behind the observer. It is possible to observe the steel’s color (which is usually not bright and reflective, but dark relative to most modern steels), and the texture or visible pattern on the surface. Often a “jihada” or clear pattern is visible. This jihada is the result of forging out the steel and folding it over on itself, usually about 12 to 14 times. Depending on how a smith folds and forges the steel, there can be one of several dif-
To look at the shape, the sword is usually held upright at arm’s length, so that the overall shape can be easily seen. Details to notice are the length, the degree of tapering from the base of the blade to the point, the degree of curvature, and the shape and
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CHAPTER II
Rekishi History
a brief history of the japanese sword Koto Era Shinto and Shin-Shinto Eras A Brief History of Tanto Gendaito
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Table Of Classic And Historical Periods
Sword Period
上古刀 Jokoto (Very Old Swords)
Date
Historical Period
奈良 Nara
794
平安 Heian
1185
古刀 (1000-1600) Koto (Old Swords)
1334
鎌倉 Kamakura
南北朝 Nanbokucho
1394
室町 Muromachi
江戸 Edo
1573
新刀 (1600-1790) Shinto (New Swords)
新々刀 (1790-1876) Shin-shinto (New-new Swords) 現代刀 (1876-present) Gendaito (Modern Swords)
1603
明治 Meiji
1867
大正 Taisho
1912
昭和 Showa
1926
平成 Heisei 1989
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CHAPTER III
The Tatara Traditional japanese Steelmaking
ta m a h a g a n e a n d t h e tata r a traditional japanese steelmaking Tatara History and Design
Tatara Construction and Operation
Tamahagane
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Traditional Japanese Steelmaking Tatara History and Design Muneo Yaso, Ph.D. Director ,Wako Museum Shimane Prefecture, Japan A very unique component present in traditional Japanese swords is the steel they are made from. This steel is called tamahagane and is made in a Japanese style furnace or smelter called a tatara. Steel made from tamahagane has very characteristic properties which contribute to the nature and qualities of the Japanese sword. It has a high carbon content and it is very tough, which means that it can bend or deform and resist cracking or fracturing, and can easily be welded.
sible on a large scale, and the tatara smelters operating around Japan provided most of the tamahagane used for swords from this time on.
In prehistoric times, iron was imported into Japan from China and from the Korean Peninsula. Based on their own iron making technology and on influences from China and Korea, the Japanese developed their own smelting process to produce pure iron and steel in the 6th century A.D. This Japanese smelting method was called Due to its composition, the “tatara” process. it can be heat treated to In this process, good harden it, making it posquality Japanese iron sible to create the unique ore in a fine sand form hamon on the sword’s (“satetsu”) and a large cutting edge. Steel made amount of charcoal are from tamahagane can used. Most of the high also accept a superb polquality steel produced ish which makes it poswith this tatara process sible to see all of the dewas called “wako”. This tails in the hardened edge method of producing and features in the steel wako can be traced composing the body of An early model of the tatara operating in the open at the base of a slope. The size is small compared to Edo period tatara. back more than 1000 the sword. years, and was in use until the Meiji period at the beginning of modern The process used to make tamahagane dates Japan in the late 19th century. Wako or Japanese back to the 5 th or 6 th century when steel swords first appeared in Japan. This process was develsteel was used for making Japanese swords, caroped and improved over the centuries, and enpenter’s chisels, kitchen knives, edged tools, etc. abled the Japanese to produce large quantities The tatara process has exerted a great influence on of high quality steel for use in swords as well Japanese culture and history. Today the tatara proas other steel edged tools. Details of the tatara cess is still used in the Chugoku region of Japan and its operation are described here, and this (in Western Honshu near the Japan Sea). Japanese process as it is described here dates back to the swords made from wako are superior to swords Edo Period. made from other steels or even from modern steel, A sword smith can make small quantities of tamaso wako is a very interesting and valuable material. This chapter describes the history and characterishagane for swords in a small shop, but starting in the Muromachi Period, steel production was postics of the tatara process and wako steel．
When the tatara walls are torn down, and the last of the burning charcoal is removed, the steel mass or kera is removed. It is lifted with a set of giant tongs and logs are rolled under it. The kera is then rolled out from the tatara furnace over the logs and down a slight slope to a work area outside of the tatara building. The kera is still very hot, and this can be seen by the fact that the kera can ignite and burn the logs it is coming into contact with.
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CHAPTER IV
Kaji Making the Sword
the
swordsmith
Tools and Preparation Tanren: Forging Tsurikomi and Sunobe: Forming the Blank Hizukuri: Fully Shaping the Blade Ara-Shiage: Rough Finishing Tsuchioki: Applying Clay to the Blade Yaki-Ire: Heat Treating Shiage: Finishing the Blade Hi and Horimono: Grooves and Engravings Nakago and Meikiri: Filing and Signing the Tang
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Making Tamahagane in the Forge Although most of the tamahagane used today comes from the traditional tatara in Shimane prefecture which was described in the previous chapter, a sword smith can make his own tamahagane on a small scale in his forge, and often does so to recycle and re-use old iron and steel, and also to make small amounts of tamahagane to experiment with. In fact, it appears likely that the earliest sword smiths in Japan made most of their own steel on a small scale. Large scale production of tamahagane by specialists did not take place until the 14th or 15th centuries and afterwards in Japan. Using his forge, a sword smith can make enough tama hagane for one sword by working for a half day or full day in the shop. To make tama Hagane for a new sword, Yoshindo can begin with pure iron (very pure electrolytic iron which has virtually no other contaminating elements in it), or he can use old iron made from tamahagane sometime over the past 300 to 400 years. Such iron is usually salvaged from old buildings such as shrines, temples, and old houses. Modern electrolytic pure iron comes in large bars or rods and is forged out into thin sheets and broken up into small pieces before use. Generally the old salvaged iron consists of small nails, brackets, and other small structural pieces of steel used in construction. If these pieces of iron are large, they must be broken up into small pieces before using them to make tamahagane. Once the starting material is ready to use for making steel, the forge is prepared so it can function as a small tatara or smelter. A bank of charcoal dust is built up on both sides of the “tuyeres� or pipes which bring the air into the forge. The bellows or fuigo pumps air into the forge through this pipe. The forge is cleaned up, and the area around and below the tuyeres is kept clear to maintain an unobstructed path for air to enter the forge. The Figure to he right shows the inside of the forge with the clear area around the tuyeres and the charcoal dust built up in front and behind the tuyeres. The charcoal barriers will act as insulation and conserve heat inside the center of the forge where a high and uniform heat must be generated to smelt the iron into steel or tamahagane. Next, the center of the forge is filled to the top of the charcoal embankments with larger pieces of charcoal and the bellows is used to begin burning the charcoal and heating up the forge.The large pieces of charcoal which are used to heat the forge and smelt the iron can be seen in the center of the forge under the flames. These pieces are added to the forge until they reach over the charcoal dust embankments.
Electrolytic process pure modern iron.
Charcoal is burned to heat the forge.
Old iron ready to be placed in the forge over the charcoal.
Electrolytic iron is hammered into a sheet and broken into small pieces for use in steel making. Old iron being spread over the top of the charcoal.
Old nails, brackets, and structural iron pieces salvaged from Edo period buildings. All pieces of the iron are small if they are to be used in this process.
Center of the forge with the charcoal banks and the tuyeres.
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Yoshindo is listening to the sound of the forge to decide when to stop the process and retrieve the tama hagane.
and steel makes in the forge, and will stop the process when it sounds correct. Once the forge is stopped, it is allowed to cool down, and at the bottom of the forge below the tuyeres opening, there will be about 2 or 2.5 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of tamahagane present. During this process the iron and iron oxide is reduced to pure iron, and combines with the carbon in the charcoal to produce steel. The best fraction of this steel is tamahagane and will be used for making swords. This is an efficient process, and 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of starting material or iron will produce about 2 to 2.5 kilograms (4.4 to 5.5 pounds) of steel or tamahagane. This process also offers a good opportunity for a sword smith to experiment with his steel, or to produce custom steel on a small scale for a sword. In the process shown here, Yoshindo mixed old Japanese steel or iron salvaged from Edo period buildings with an equal amount of modern pure iron. He will make a new sword out of this steel, and see what the hamon and the jigane or steel surface looks like, and this will guide his efforts in the future for making steel and swords.
Once the forge is hot enough, Yoshindo takes a handful of the old iron ,and places it on a shovel, and spreads it over the charcoal in the center of the forge. After the iron is spread over the charcoal, the forge is operated until the top of the charcoal burns down so it is 3 or 4 cm (1.5 to 2 inches) below the charcoal dust embankments. More charcoal is then added to the forge to raise the top of the charcoal over the dust embankments again. More iron is added to the forge again, and the forge is operated until the charcoal level drops again. This process is repeated, with iron being added and then charcoal being added, until about 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of iron has been added to the forge. Because of the scale of the forge, this is the maximum amount of iron which can be added to the forge and produce a good yield of steel. Once the proper amount of material has been added to the forge, Yoshindo will continue to operate the bellows until most of the charcoal has burned up. H he will stop when the forge sounds right. He monitors this process by the sound the charcoal 127
CAPTER V
Finishing The Japanese Sword Polishing, Habaki, And Saya
Other crafts togi: sword polishing habaki: sword collar shirasaya: storage scabbard
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Togi: Sword Polishing After the smith has finished working on a sword, there are still things which must be done before the sword is finished: the sword must be polished, a habaki must be made so the sword can be placed in some kind of scabbard, and a scabbard or saya must be made to protect the sword.
become independent polishers. It is a difficult craft to learn, and there are many details and techniques which must be mastered to become a good polisher. Because there are so many techniques to learn and experiences to acquire, a large amount of time is required to become a professional level polisher.
A selection of polishing stones in a shop in Tokyo
These three steps are done by three independent craftsmen who specialize in these crafts, and these crafts will be briefly described here. Once the sword smith has finished his work with a sword, the sword will go to a polisher to finish the sword. Forging is rough work, and the blade has few features which can easily be seen at this point. The job of the polisher is to refine the shape, make the sharpened edge, refine all of the lines and surfaces, and bring out all of the important features of the sword’s surface such as the hamon, the jihada, and jigane.
The polisher Takaiwa Setsuo working in the traditional polisher’s position. Takaiwa is a mukansa level polisher and also holds the title of Tokyo To Mukei Bunkazai, or “Living Cultural Property of Tokyo
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Japanese sword polishing is almost as complex as sword making because the details of the sword and the steel will not be visible without a very fine polish. All of the fine structural and crystal elements in the surface of the steel must be made visible. There is evidence that polishers were able to polish swords well enough in the Kamakura Period (1185-1334 AD) so that these details were visible then. It also seems likely that polishing had advanced to a high level at that time because the sword smiths must have been able to see their work in detail to have been able to bring the Kamakura Period swords to such a sophisticated level.
New polishers usually become apprentices of practicing polishers and learn their craft through a traditional five year (or longer) apprenticeship. After they complete their training with a teacher, they can
Refining the sword’s shape and making the sharp cutting edge is relatively simple, and it seems likely that most swords intended for combat were not
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Bibliography
Fuller, Richard; and Gregory Ron. Military Swords of Japan, 1868-1945. London: Arms and Armor Press, 1986. Fuller, Richard; and Gregory Ron. Japanese Military and Civil Swords and Dirks. Charlottesville, VA.: Howell Press, Inc., 1997. Kapp, Leon; Kapp, Hiroko; and Yoshihara, Yoshindo. Craft of the Japanese Sword, Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1987. Kapp, Leon; Kapp, Hiroko; and Yoshihara, Yoshindo . Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths: From 1868 to the present. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2002. Kishida, Tom. Yasukuni Swordsmiths. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1994. Magotti, Sergio. Nipponto: L’Anima del Samurai (Italian). Bagnolo San Vito, Italy: Ponchiroli Editori, 2008. Nagayama Kokan. Connoisseuer’s Book of Japanese Swords. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1997. Nakahara (2010) Sato, Kansan. The Japanese Sword. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1983. Takaiwa, Setsuo,; Kapp, Leon; Kapp, Hiroko; and Yoshihara, Yoshindo. The Art of Japanese Sword Polishing. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2006.
Contact Information
Yoshindo Yoshihara Japan 8-17-11 Takasago Katsushika-Ku Tokyo, 125-0054 Japan Fax (81) 3-3607-3607-1405
Leon & Hiroko Kapp USA leonkapp@gmail.com
Aram Compeau USA aram.compeau@gmail.com
Paolo Saviolo Italy Via Col di Lana, 12 13100 Vercelli Tel. (39) 0161 391000 Fax (39) 0161 271256 paolo@savioloedizioni.it
Paolo Cammelli Italy lupocamel@yahoo.it
Yumoto, John. The Samurai Sword. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1958.
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© All rights and copyrights reserved Paolo Saviolo 2011 No part of the book may be reproduced in any form by printed, digital or electronic means (including photocopying, recording or information storage and retrieval) without written permission from the publisher. Layout design and Creative Director: Hiroko Kapp, Paolo Saviolo Graphic design: Paolo Saviolo Copy Editor and text: Leon Kapp Supervisor text and history: Paolo Cammelli Photographs:Yoshikazu Yoshihara and Aram Compeau Drawings: Ryoichi Mizuki and Yoshindo Yoshihara
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