Making a Japanese Sword
The process of making a "traditional" Japanese katana is quite lengthy - expect a few
months to pass by! And since each part of the making is highly specialised, the blade,
saya, tsuba, tsuka and other fittings are made by different artisans. If you can afford
a real Japanese sword(!) and want one custom made, the wait will be even longer than the
manufacturing time, because there is a queue and the Japanese sword-smiths are regulated
to a maximum number of swords they can make. This is in order to maintain high quality
standards and maintain the true methods into the future. Many other countries have sword
smiths making katana using semi traditional methods aided by modern equipment and can
produce a higher quantity of swords at a therefore lower price, but sword admirers
generally do not consider these swords as true "Nihonto".
Blade-smithing
A Samurai's sword was said to be his soul, and the blade is the basis of this soul.
In Japan, the swordsmith is regarded as a sort of monk/priest as well as a skilled
craftsman. Often they will fast and perform mind cleansing rituals for a period before
they start work on a new blade. There are many aspects, from preparing the charcoal for the
fire, preparing the metal, folding it, adding charcoal to it, shaping and tempering etc etc.
It is both science, craft and art. An apprenticeship in bladesmithing involves many years of
training with a master smith. Some of these links and many others you will find explain it
better than I can. Bladesmithing in Japan - a
links page, or go direct to a step by step site
here. An overview of Bladesmithing at Bugei.com 'Modern' Bladesmithing in the USA The Way of Bladesmithing (USA)
Blade Polishing
These days, the majority of sword makers do not do the polish - which is the final part of
preparing and sharpening the blade. Polishing brings out (or hides/ruins) the activity of the
steel and requires a large amount of patience to polish the entire length of the blade using
the many different grades of polishing stones to first rough polish and then increasingly
finer and finer polish so as to not leave behind any scratches on the blade. Since the angles
of the blade change from near the handle to near the tip, this process takes a considerable
period of time and is usually charged for per inch - an average sword polish will cost around
US$1,000. This is one of the most important parts of the blade manufacture as it determines the
sharpness and the "look" or "spirit" of the blade. Some polishing links: Sword Polishing article at Richard Stein's site excellent step by step Sword Polishing JohnD Sword Polishing Polishing tutorial page
Koshirae
The many small parts are often put together by one person, but sourced from several different
specialists. Depending on what price one is willing to pay will depend upon how it all happens.
There is an excellent article on the fitting out of a custom sword
here
which will give you an idea of it can work for a dedicated sword collector with (presumably)
sufficient cash to do a specialised job!
Making the Life-Giving Sword Tsuka: making the wooden handle, wrapping it in same (shark/ray skin), and
putting the tsukamaki (lace wrappings) on is specialised work (again!). The wood
should be correct type and custom fitted to the tang of the blade and then wrapped properly to
ensure it stays "tight" for many years of work. Tsuba: As you might have guessed from the previous page, Tsuba are an artform in their
own right and the range of choice is quite large. Still, the Tsuba must be matched to the blade
and Tsuka with appropriately sized seppa (spacers). Saya: The saya is carved from a special wood in two pieces and custom fitted to the shape
of the blade, then glued together with a special rice based "glue" and finished - usually in
lacquer, but sometimes in other finishes also.
