Theme week "Japanese Swords 575-578
A Curse Wood-Iorn
When it comes to cultures around the world, it's hard to deny that Japan is one of the most well known. While a number of factors played into the creation of this unique culture (such as Confucianism Beliefs) one is often forgotten by history. So let’s dig up this old fact.
You see Europe has naturally more pure Iron deposits. With fewer inclusions, Europe was able to make specific alloys more reliably ultimately leading to the creation of Spring-Steel in the 1400s. Using spring-steel the swords could take a beating and be less likely to break. Yet Japan was not so lucky as most of the Iron deposits in Japan and Eastern Asia have a very poor quality without refinement. This was massive as to combat the brittleness Asian metalworkers had to fold the steel far more often to get Steel equivalent to European smiths. Additionally Iron quality was far more varied so miners had to be better educated in identifying the use for the iron in their particular region. Making it far harder for smiths to relocate or share useful information with neighboring towns.
This played a large factor in why towns and regions tended to be more closely knit in Uji (Lineage Grouping –Translated as Clan) and why it became harder for clans to move beyond the lands where the iron they were used to was located. This is also why Japanese craftsmen tended to favor woodworking and similar trades far more, as it was easier to pick up and could be applied almost anywhere. This is also why when The Portuguese reestablished European contact with Japan in 1543 they were very disappointed in the iron ore they brought back calling it “Wood-Iorn” although today ore with that poor of quality is known as Gangue. One thing the Portuguese were highly impressed with however, was the advanced metalworking techniques developed which is why you can still find several Japanese Metalworking techniques still being taught today (there’s two groups in Rockford alone which will teach you) while the older European techniques of the late Medieval age are largely forgotten.
Image of Gangue ore from Wikimedia commons
Japan is well known for their Swords, and their distinction in terms of craftsmanship is the main reason for the depiction of their swords being “The Best”. This was to compensate for poor quality iron. Then 1543 altered things somewhat when The Portuguese reestablished contact with the island, and brought European swords and Iron with them. Very quickly Japanese smiths started buying the limited European iron for its ease of metalworking, and resulting in far more durable blades than were common in that region of the world. To help distinguish the blade styles and iron apart The Japanese smiths began calling European iron “Yoto” (Night or Shadow) and Swords as “Yotona” (Night blades), while the most common style of sword used in Japan became the official name for all swords made in the Japanese style “Nihontō” (the Original sword style named Nihontō became known by a different name overtime known today as a “Katana”).
Fun Fact #576
"Know thy name"
All good swords deserve names, and on this Japan was not found lacking. Famous Japanese style swords (Nihontō) were given the title of “Meibutsu” (distinguished blade) and were recorded in a compilation called "Kyoho Meibutsucho" which lists 166 named blades with their measurements, makers, owners, history and even where the ore used to make them originated from. Only 100 are known to still exist today –with one of the lost blades only recently having been found . . . being sold at a Goodwill in Pennsylvania. Honestly not where I would have expected someone to find one of the most legendary swords of Japanese history. Meanwhile famous European swords were also recorded in Japanese history under the title of yōtō (meaning: The Bewitched Blades/Demon Blades) of which very few still remain. Today the term yōtō pops up most frequently in movies, comics, and games as having a “Demon Blade” made from “Shadow-steel” is admittedly too great an opportunity for many writers to pass up when mixing Japanese history with fiction.
Image of The Meibutsu Katana known as “Shimazu Masamune” (Masamune’s Will) made in the late 14th century by the most famous swordsmith in Japanese history –Masamune– and was lost for almost 150 years before it was foun in 2014. Image from The Kyoto National Museum. (This is NOT the blade located at the Goodwill, that was a different Meibutsu)
As always thanks for reading and please have a fantastic day. Also if you find any legendary swords at Goodwill, maybe give it a serious thought. “It’s dangerous to go alone.”
Fun Fact #578
To Steel your Wood.
When the Portuguese, Dutch, and later other European powers began trading steel with Japan they found the market quite prosperous for almost 60 years until it came to an end. After over 100 years of ceaseless war,“The Sengoku Jidai” (meaning “The Warring States Era”) finally came to an end after Tokugawa Ieyasu finally beat back the last of the Ikko-Ikki (Buddhist warrior monks) and set up The New Government in the city of EDO (modern day Tokyo).
His first action? To ensure that war did not return the country, and to aid in this he established a strict caste system and most weapons of war to reduce the chances of successful uprisings (no more sandalbearers rising to the Rank of Shogun). Additionally, while he was a big fan of the Dutch, The Shogun was distrustful of outsiders and so banned all foreigners from Japan except the region of Nagasaki which had become the largest Hub of Christianity east of the Arvali Mountains (Western India) –a boast they held until the end of World War 2. Only the Dutch could now legally trade with Japan, and almost all Shadowsteel went directly to The Shogunate for use in the army.
Yet people still needed to be able to defend themselves and so they invented The Shikomizue –or Cane-Sword. The idea was that no one looked twice at people needing to use a cane and so you could dodge authorities and still be armed with a sword when you needed to be. The weapon quickly proved popular as people sought to “Steel their wood”, but was difficult to produce resulting in skyrocketing prices when supply couldn't meet demand. Yet it lasted for a long time, and today is seen as a Japanese cultural symbol of ingenuity, discretion, and subtlety which is still held in high respect today. This is also why in the 1800s a shorthand that European countries used to reference all the Kamon at once (Clan Symbols) was to use the symbol of a sword crossing a Cane.
As always thanks for reading and please have a wonderful day!
Image of a Katana with all its parts broken down
