Wars have played a revolutionary role in Japan’s long history. For thousands of years, war clans controlled the country. Each clan consists of several related families, and each clan is headed by a chief who is the ancestor of the family. Wars have almost always centered on the struggle for land. Only 20% of Japan’s land is suitable for agriculture, so this condition gave rise to the Knights of Japan, who are referred to as Samurais.
Duty is first and foremost the core of any Samurai warrior, along with the Bushido, or Way of the Warrior. To become a samurai is to overcome the fear of death. This allows them to loyally serve their masters and their clan, even if serving would mean losing their own life, which it will.
What is the most famous samurai sword?
To ensure that their land is protected and the battles they wage are victorious, the ancient Japanese developed aarmor codes, and weapons. The weapons were revolutionized along with the battles.
By the 9th–12th AD, the Samurai had become a separate class. Within these periods, samurai were divided into two groups: the knights (or samurai) and the warriors (or bushi). Some of them were mercenaries, and some were members of the ruling class. In exchange, they are given land fiefs and positions. Each samurai is used to serve and protect the property of the daimyo and fight for land expansion and power.
They made the most of what was present in their environment. When horses were first introduced, they became masters of them. Horseback riding was then incorporated into battles. They conducted both unarmed and armed combat. Bows and arrows were mainly used in combat; swords were only used to decapitate enemies. However, in the 13th century, when they got into serious battles with the Mongols, they started to make more use of their samurai swords and eventually made more of these, as well as the naginata and spears. They easily changed from fighting on foot to fighting on horseback.
Samurai swords were generally divided into two: the dato katana, or the long sword, which averaged over 24 inches in length, and the shoto wakizashi, or the short sword, which was 12–24 inches in length. Samurai swords were often given names to immortalize the soul of warriors.
Who made the first samurai sword?
The earliest swords were straight and usually fashioned after Chinese or Korean designs. But over the course of the battle, the samurai swords were remade to have a much stronger design with a sharper curved edge. This is the type of samurai sword that will go down in history.
Samurai swords were made almost perfectly. The basic elements that are combined to create Samurai swords are carbon and iron. To shape them, the swordsmith uses an anvil, water, fire, and hammers. Once the sword is forged, the sword polisher will set up the blade in front of the furniture it will enclose. Once this is done, the sword tester will test the new blade by cutting through convicted criminals and dead corpses. It will cut through the smaller bones first and then move on to the harder bones. The results are transcribed onto the nakago, or the metal piece that connects the handle to the samurai sword.
Due to their rise to power, these knights and their samurai swords were heralded as the ruling class in the Japanese hierarchy for several centuries, well into the 19th century. This era is known for the Shogun, or the most powerful ruling Samurais in their own time.
