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The word katana first appears in Japanese in the Nihon Shoki of 720. The term is a compound of kata ("one side, one-sided") + na ("blade"), [6] [7] [8] in contrast to the double-sided tsurugi. The katana belongs to the nihontō family of swords, and is distinguished by a blade length (nagasa) of more than 2 shaku, approximately 60 cm (24 in). [9]
Amakuni Yasutsuna (天國 安綱) is the legendary swordsmith who supposedly created the first single-edged longsword with curvature along the edge in the Yamato Province around 700 AD. He was the head of a group of swordsmiths employed by the Emperor of Japan to make weapons for his warriors.
He insisted that the bold and strong kotō blade from the Kamakura period to the Nanboku-chō period was the ideal Japanese sword, and started a movement to restore the production method and apply it to katana. Katana made after this is classified as a shinshintō (新々刀), "new revival swords" or literally "new-new swords."
Archaeological excavations dated the oldest sword in Japan from at least as early as second century B.C. [2]: 4 The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and the Nihon Shoki (History of Japan), ancient texts on early Japanese history and myth that were compiled in the eighth century A.D., describe iron swords and swordsmanship that pre-date recorded history, attributed to the mythological age of ...
The nioi is made up of niye, which are single martensite crystals surrounded by darker pearlite. The curving of a katana as it cools at different rates. Having a single edge provides certain advantages; one being that the rest of the sword can be used to reinforce and support the edge. The Japanese style of sword-making takes full advantage of ...
Created Date: 8/30/2012 4:52:52 PM
The first forging of the first curved Japanese swords has been attributed to these two smiths. [131] Yasutsuna founded the school with the same name. Two tachi of the Yasutsuna school have been designated as national treasures: one, the Dōjigiri Yasutsuna by Yasutsuna has been named the "most celebrated of all Japanese swords"; the other is by ...
Kiku-ichimonji (菊一文字) ("Chrysanthemum-straight line"), often romanized with a somewhat misplaced hyphen as Kikuichi-monji, is a collective name given to the katana (a type of Japanese sword) made by the thirteen swordsmiths who were in attendance to the Emperor Go-Toba in 1208.