A katana (刀 is the Japanese kanji) is one type of sword in Japan that you will sometimes hear called a samurai sword.  The sword generally has a long, curved, single edged blade and is associated with the samurai that existed in feudal Japan.  Sometimes you will see katanas measured using shaku as the form of measurement.

The katana came about in the Muromachi period (1392-1573).  It was created to give the warriors a faster method of removing their swords and attacking enemies.  Part of the way this was accomplished was by wearing the swords with their blades facing up, allowing the warrior to draw their sword and attack their enemy in one motion.  The katana was actually part of a set that included one or two smaller blades with a similar shape.

A special steel called Tamahagane is used to make a katana.  This steel uses both high carbon steel, which is harder and able to maintain a harder edge, and low carbon steel, which is more bendable and able to withstand impact.  Despite the benefits of each, the high carbon steel can be too brittle and break too easily and the the low carbon steel can become blunt due to its malleability.  For this reason, makers of Japanese samurai swords use both types of steel to gain the benefits of each as a composite.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bexross/ / CC BY 2.0

This is accomplished by using a U shaped piece of high carbon steel and inserting a piece of low carbon steel into the inside.  This allows the high carbon steel to become the sharp edge of the sword, but maintains the ability of the low carbon steel to withstand impact by providing some more flexibility on the interior of the sword.  This larger piece of steel is heated and hammered to create a composite and is then folded and hammered to squeeze out the impurities.

At this point in the process of creation, the sword may not have any curvature.  The curvature is actually created with the quenching of the steel.  A clay slurry is used to coat the steel, with less being used on the blade.  After being heated and dipped in water the blade takes on its characteristic curvature due to the varying levels of heat insulation provided by the clay slurry.

Although you won’t see samurai walking down the street now, there are still many places where you can find samurai swords for sale.  Katanas still sometimes play a prominent role in movies and media and there are many collectors around the world.  Some of these blades, especially an antique an samurai sword, can be incredibly valuable.  This isn’t hard to believe considering the time and expertise that can go into making one of these swords.  Not to mention the fact that they can be beautiful pieces of art.

Last Modified : March 3rd, 2010 Filed under : Art Navigate : Previous post / Next post