SACRED SWORDS OF JAPAN

Southland Times, Issue 23948, 14 October 1939, Page 11

SACRED SWORDS OF JAPAN

Weapons That Are Forged With Religious Devotion

’T’HE sword is the symbol of the * Japanese spirit, writes Kimpei Sheba in The Chicago Tribune. It has been the motive power of the history of Japan. It is dedicated as the object of national belief. Today, with the resurgence of nationalism, it is more than ever the symbol of the country. But the Japanese sword is not what people of Western countries usually have in mind when they speak of a sword. It is not merely a weapon, but an object of art, a symbol of faith, and a thing of worship. It is one of the three national treasures of the imperial family. A Japanese swordsmith is an inspired artist and his workshop a sanctuary. Daily he commences liis work with prayer and purification, or, as one authority describes it, “he commits his soul and spirit into the forging and tempering of the steel.” Every step in the welding of a Japanese, sword—every swing of the sledge, every plunge into water, every friction on the grindstone—is a religious act. Prayer and fasting often precete the forging of a specially good blade. . The smith puts on white robes, and his workshop is carefully purified by a Shinto (State religion). priest. Ceremonial straw festoons with strips of paper signifying purity and sanctity are hung around the workshop, ana an altar is erected where the god of forging is worshipped. In these surroundings the swordsmith proceeds to the almost sacred task of forging his blade, showing religious devotion to every step of his work. Reverence And Awe x IS there any wonder that the finished product is regarded with reverence and awe? Is there any wonder that a Japanese, asked to inspect a prize sword, does so with, as much solemnity and veneration as one might expect a Westerner to employ were he to be asked to touch the Holy SepulC1 Before a sword is unsheathed a Japanese invariably bows to it. He then takes a piece of spotless wjvj-e cloth about the size of a handkerchief, with which he holds the scabbard. The sword is held at all times at arm s length and is not unsheathed all at once. It is drawn only an inch or two, the utmost care being taken that the breath does not strike the steel. There is not a word of conversation during the inspection, lest the breath or saliva blemish the blade. Above all, no one even touches the blade directly. , Japanese regard with horror the scene in the opera “Madame Butterfly” in which the heroine kisses the dagger. That is something that could never happen in Japan. In feudal times only the Samurai class were permitted to wear swords. They are heirlooms handed down from generation to generation. Today almost every family descended from a Samurai hoards a sword as an object of adoration. Any insult to it is tantamount to a personal affront. Sword-Fighting

IN this age of machine-guns, tanks, bombing planes, and other deadly implements of war one might conclude with some justification that the sword has outlived its usefulness as a weapon in modern warfare. This is not so, at least not in the experience of Japans fighting men on the battlefields of China. . , 5 It is the opinion of these modern steel-helmeted warriors that as long as there are hand-to-hand encounters —and there were a good many in the two-year-old war between Japan and China—the sword will play an important part in inspiring soldiers. Japanese officers carry automatics as well as swords, but they say an automatic is not in the same class with a shining edge of an ancient samurai blade brandished in the air when it comes to raising the spirit of tired men in the final charge upon the enemy. There is something psychological about a samurai sword which inspires both the wielder and the men under him to superhuman feats, according to Japanese officers. But the swords they speak of are not ordinary cutlasses. They are, as we have already noted, inspired weapons which have from time immemorial been called “the soul of the Samurai.” When the Japanese army adopted Western uniforms in place of the kimono as the regulation outfit the Western

sword replaced the Samurai sword. Recently it has been the custom among officers, especially the younger ones being sent to the first line in China, to return to ancient tradition and to carry the heavy, extremely durable and sharp-edged swords of their Samurai fathers to battle with them. There are deep sentimental and spiritual reasons for this. The mere wearing of an article in the forging of which such religious devotion is shown is said to make the modern Japanese soldier feel himself invigorated by the spirit of his warrior forefathers. Costly Weapons MANY present-day officers, however, are descendants of merchants and farmers who were not permitted in the old days to have swords. These men buy Samurai swords at sword stores. Due to the heavy demand, the current market price has risen about 30 per cent, over that of normal times and ranges from £lO to £lOO. Even £lO is a stiff price for an ordinary Japanese and relations and friends of newly commissioned officers are having a hard time finding suitable blades. , Swords made by master smiths cost hundreds of pounds. A genuine Masamune or Muramasa, like a Stradi-" varius, is priceless. But quite a few of these, as well as hundreds of others

by less famous craftsmen, are doing duty on the war fronts in China today. Stories of remarkable feats perpormed with such swords' are being spread far and wide. Scores of army officers are reputed each to have slain 100 or more Chinese soldiers in hand-to-hand encounters.

The Japanese sword is a heavy twohanded weapon. It is held with both hands in front and usually above the head. Most Japanese boys are trained in fencing as soon as they enter high school and are adept at handling swords. Japanese fencing technique involves the principle of ju-jutsu, which is to employ the adversary’s strength and direction of effort to his undoing. To the American it is a startling novelty to think of fencing in conjunction with any form or movement of wrestling, but to the Japanese youth it comes naturally.

There can be little doubt that in actual fighting one good cut with a Samurai sword will settle the contest. A soldier with a bayoneted rifle is no match for a good swordsman. A swish to left or right brushes the rifle aside, and with the next thrust the swordsman finishes his antagonist. It is no uncommon feat, at least in exhibitions, to see a swordsman cut a steel-barrelled rifle in two with a single blow. Famous Smiths JUST as in the case of other artists and craftsmen, swordsmiths worked in schools and families. Some of these families have perhaps a longer history than any other craft. The unbroken line of the smiths in Bizen dates from the year 987 to the present day. They were the most honoured of all artisans, being designated by the shogun, or military dictator with the same title as a feudal lord, kami.

The number of swordsmiths has decreased year by year and there -are only 400 today. They are barely able to turn out enough swords to meet the suddenly growing demand. There are many methods of forging a Samurai sword, but everything depends upon the individual skill of the maker. A favourite style is to weld alternate layers of soft, elastic, magnetic iron and hard steel. When the sword is shaped as required it is covered with clay, part of which is then scraped away to leave the edge bare, sometimes in a straight line, but more often in various scalloped or wavy patterns called midare-ba. It is then heated in a charcoal furnace and plunged into water of a given temperature to temper it. This is the most difficult and delicate process of all, for if the tempering is inadequate the weapon is spoiled. Much depends on the temperature of the water, which was a great secret. There is a story that Masamune, greatest of all swordsmiths, cut off the hand of his pupil Samonji at one blow because he caught him putting his finger into the trough to try the water when the master turned his back for a moment.