About Tatara
Japanese Swords
Together with the cherry blossom and Mt. Fuji, the Nihonto, or Japanese sword,
stands as a symbol of Japan. This sword was the soul of the samurai; it
is the physical manifestation of the so-called “spirit of Yamato,” the
name of both the lands and clan who were the main wellsprings of Japanese
culture. It has come down through the ages as the craft of embodying the
heart and soul. The late Cyril Stanley Smith, professor emeritus of materials
science at M.I.T., has praised the Japanese sword as the ultimate metallurgical
craft object for bringing out the internal characteristics of metal.
Not only does the Nihonto possess the features essential to a weapon of this
sort, being unfoldable, unbendable, and able to cut well, but it also has a solemn
beauty that could even be described as mystical, a mysterious beauty seen in
the elegance of its shape, temper pattern, nie (crystals visible to the eye formed
in the tempering process), nioi (smaller crystals not visible to the eye but
that give the blade a misty appearance), reflectivity, and texture. This is the
result of refining the Japanese sword and exploiting the unique characteristics
of wako in over 1,000 years of creating such a weapon.
The Nihonto manufacturing process
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() For shin-gane (body steel) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
To create a Japanese sword, you start with tama-hagane as
the source material and run it through the lapel forging process (shita-kitae).
This involves pounding the tama-hagane with
a hammer into a flat shape (the mizu-herashi process).
The pieces are then piled up, forge welded, and formed into a single block.
Next, it is folded lengthwise and forged, and also elongated, cut, lapeled,
and then forged again (the shita-kitae process).
The iron slag inside is squeezed out during this process, while the remaining
slag is broken up into small pieces and spread out. Simultaneously, organic
impurities such as phosphorous and sulfur are also extracted. Next is the age-kitae (side steel-forging) stage. Next, the blacksmith performs the drawing-out process and adjusts
the shape. Quenching soil is then applied to the blade based on the kind of
temper pattern (hamon) desired, and the blade is heat treated. If the blade
is insufficiently curved, the blacksmith will work it to give it more of a
curve. The blade is then given a rough polish, the tang (nakago) is forged,
the temper pattern and other elements are checked, the registration (signature)
is engraved, and the sword is passed on to the polisher. All of the foregoing
processes constitutes one cycle of the manufacturing process. When you consider this process, you can understand just how extremely important it is for the iron to be receptive to forge welding. Because Japanese steel includes almost no chemical elements other than iron and carbon, it can be forge welded without the use of flux, which is not the case with steel as traditionally made in the West. The forge-welded sections produced through shita-kitae and age-kitae form complex
patterns and produce a variety of changes in the unprocessed metal. The tsukuri-komi process involves treating the Nihonto as a composite material. It is done to
bring out well the features of the sword, such as its resistance to breakage
and bending. |
It is in these ways that the Nihonto more than amply draws out the flavor of wako, and it is easy to understand why it is said that there would be no Japanese
sword without it.
Currently, the The Society for Preservation of Japanese Art Swords is rebuilding
a tatara in the town of Okuizumo, Shimane Prefecture, in the Chugoku Mountains.
Its purpose is to provide Japanese steel to be used as the main material for
making Japanese swords.