JAPANESE SWORDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 168, 18 July 1932, Page 3

JAPANESE SWORDS.

LECTURE BY MR. H. S. DADLEY

Japanese sword lore was tlie subject of n talk siven at the War Mcnuu-.a Museum vwtcrdnv afternoon by -Mr. H. S. Dadlcy. it. was the liret of several lectures appropriate to tli.- csnibition of Chinese and Japanese art now being held in the Museum. Mr. Dudley;* collection of Jupancsc art is extensive and valuable, and he has studied the subject tor many veaxs, The sword held a unique place in the life of the Japanese warrior and cdntlenian, and it was surrounded by a strict code. From boyhood the Japanwe gentleman was taught to cherish Ins Sword, and no matter how poor he was lie would lavish on his weapon the best art he could procure for love or money. A .sword was an heirloom, and the richness of the ornamentation of hilt and euard was an indication of the importance of the family. The work put into the hilt and Riiavd was very beautiful, and for many years .specimens have been cujk rl. Bought bv European collectors. Lho peculiar reverence paid to the sword in Japan and its consequent embellishment hns piven rise to largo numbers ot smiths a^r de DTcUey S pointed out how the craft persisted in'families in a way quite unknown in the Western world In the f.mous Goto family, for iiifltuucc. rrom l-iV to 1536. everyone of the sixteen direct, Awendantjc had followed the ancestral ,-i'aft Even to-day there was a lamily L'rit "had been sword, craitemen. since the tenth century.