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Japanese sword construction methods logo

Construction methods of Japanese swords

This article will describe several methods by which the Japanese joined higher and lower carbon steels into their blades.
Masamune sword menuki

Masamune sword menuki

NBTHK Hozon. Charming menuki in the form of a sword, signed "Masamune" and a tachi scabbard.
Kanenori in itomaki-no-tachi logo

Echizen Kanenori tachi

A fine, Circa 400-year-old blade in 19th-century tachi mountings.
Hata-jirushi logo

Japanese battle flag

Resist-dyed cotton in white and indigo, with three fans mon.
Yasuchika elephant tsuba

Yasuchika elephant tsuba

A 19th-century copy of an important cultural art object.
Hawk and pine tsuba logo

Hawk and pine tsuba

Carved out of copper alloy with details highlighted in gold.
Unusual alphabet tsuba logo

Early tsuba with alphabet

Curious early tsuba with the beginning of the Western alphabet inscribed into it.
Fine pierced nanban tsuba

Fine pierced nanban tsuba

Very delicate work with carved guardian lions.
Hirado Kunishige tsuba

Hirado Kunishige tsuba

Of a copper alloy with a different shade on each side.
late-chinese-pierced-guard-logo

Small Chinese saber guard

Of pierced iron, elaborately cut with lotus petal border.
Nanban ship tsuba logo

Iron nanban ship tsuba

Pierced and chiseled showing an 18th century European vessel.
Hirado Kunishige fuchi logo

Hirado Kunishige fuchi

One of his classic designs, signed by the maker.
Sawasa smallsword pommel snuff bottle

Sawasa smallsword pommel

Upgraded with filigree to resemble a snuff bottle.
Unusual nanban tsuba

Unusual nanban tsuba

Very finely carved with designs reminiscent of export wares.
Lacquered Japanese sword stand with drawers

Japanese lacquered sword stand

With scenes of pine trees and three drawers.
62 plate Kabuto with mayu

62 plate kabuto with maedate

Each plate with raised rib, the visor embossed with simulated eyebrows.
Shimazu clan daisho logo

Shimazu mon daishō

A pair of daishō with blades forged by the Takada smiths of Bungo in the north of Kyūshū.
Mino-bori logo

Mino-bori (美濃彫)

Language: Japanese
Source: Michitatsu's Sōken Kishō of 1781

Nagasaki raden katana kake logo

Mother of pearl inlaid katana kake

In black and gold urushi lacquer, with fine mother-of-pearl inlays with aquatic landscapes on both sides.
Mino Mitsunaka

Mino Mitsunaka (美濃光仲)

A Japanese sword fittings artist who worked in the Mino-bori style.
Naoe Shizu tanto logo

Fine Sōshū tantō

A fine tantō forged in the Sōshū tradition with Hon'Ami Koson sayagaki.
Muramasa logo

Muramasa masterpiece tantō

A masterpiece by the "cursed" smith, active in the early 16th century.
Nagasaki logo

Nagasaki

Japanese port city, the designated area of trade with Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries
Ainu dagger logo

Ainu dagger

Called kuttom-ushbe in the local language. This one mounted in deer antler mounts.
Mini makiri logo

Miniature Ainu makiri

Despite its size it is of remarkably fine workmanship.
Early Edo samural armor logo

Early Edo samurai armor

Very heavy armor, made for business.
The curse of Muramasa logo

The Curse of Muramasa, a historical overview

Swords by early 1500s maker Muramasa were considered cursed. In this article, I will explore the facts around these myths.
Archaic Asian shortsword

Archaic Chinese shortsword

Probably of Chinese origin, resembling some of the earliest Japanese swords in existence.
Jumonji yari logo

Jūmonji yari (十文字槍)

Japanese word for a cross shaped spear
Nakago logo

Nakago (茎 / 中心)

Japanese word for the tang of a sword
Echizen Kanesada blade in spectacular koshirae

Echizen Kanesada in striking koshirae

Blade with fine dragon horimono. The mounts signed Sōmin and Masatatsu.
Fine daisho with maki-e lacquer work

Fine autumn themed daishō

Both blades signed, its koshirae fine maki-e lacquer work. Ito school tsuba and Mino Gotō style mounts.
Kanabo school jumonji yari

Jumonji yari by Kanabō Masazane

Made in the 16th century, for the warrior monks of the Hozo-in temple in Nara.
Hachiwari logo

Hachiwari (鉢割)

Language: Japanese
Origin: Old literature

Hachiwari

Very good hachiwari

Literally "skull splitter", more widely known as kabutowari; "helmet splitter." An excellent example, one of the best of its type.
Yagami school nanban tsuba

Yagami school nanban tsuba

A masterpiece of the genre. The Yagami school were excellent carvers of iron.
Hirado Kunishige tsuba logo

Enamelled Hirado Kunishige tsuba

Fine work and one of the very few enamelled tsuba by this maker.
Hirado Kunishige logo

Hirado Kunishige (平戸市國重)

A group of Japanese sword fitting makers working on the island of Hirado.
Katana with horse themed koshirae logo

Katana in horse theme koshirae

Blade signed Sesshū-jū Fujiwara Hiroyoshi, active in the 1670s-80s.
Three wise monkeys tsuba logo

Three wise monkeys tsuba

Japanese sword guard depicting three wise monkeys conveying the message see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
Shimosaka o-tanto

Shimosaka o-tantō

N.B.T.H.K. Hozon with a set of Nanban-style koshirae with signed tsuba.
Important Juyo Ko-Hoki Sadatsuna logo

Important Ko-Hōki Sadatsuna katana

12th-century blade. 33rd Shinsha Juyō Token with sayagaki by Tanobe.
Jumyo katana logo

Jumyo katana with fine koshirae

The very detailed mountings are decorated with designs of Japanese spiny lobsters.
Musashi Taro Yasukuni katana logo

Katana by Musashi Taro Yasukuni

Signed, ubu. Complete with tasteful koshirae and Hozon papers.
Musashi Taro Yasukuni logo

Musashi Taro Yasukuni (武蔵太郎安国)

A Japanese swordsmith who lived between 1650-1730.
Shihozume kitae logo

Shihōzume-gitae (四方詰め鍛え)

Japanese word for a sword construction with a high carbon edge, low carbon core, medium carbon sides and a separate back.
Honsanmai gitae logo

Hon-sanmai-gitae (本三枚鍛え)

Japanese word for a sword construction with a high carbon edge plate under a soft core, flanked by medium steel.
Sanmei gitae logo

Sanmai-gitae (三枚鍛え)

Japanese word for a sword construction with a center high carbon edge plate.
Wariha-gitae logo

Wariha-gitae / wariba-gitea (割刃鍛え)

Japanese term for a sword construction with an inserted edge made of higher carbon steel.
Hyoshigi gitae logo

Hyoshigi-gitae (拍子木鍛え)  

Japanese term for a sword construction with an edge made of higher carbon steel.