Samurai and kaji

51
And a bad blacksmith happens to forge a good sword.
Japanese proverb


Kaji is a blacksmith, gunsmith, "sword maker", and the people of this profession in feudal Japan were the only ones who stood on the social ladder along with the samurai. Although de jure they belonged to artisans, and those in the Japanese table of ranks were considered lower than the peasants! In any case, it is known that some emperors, not to mention the courtiers and, in fact, samurai, did not disdain to take the hammer in their hands, and even engage in the craft of a blacksmith. In any case, Emperor Gotoba (1183 - 1198) announced the manufacture of swords worthy of princes, and there are still several blades of his work in Japan.




Wakidzasi is the “short sword” of the Edo era. Tokyo National Museum.

There are legends about the hardness and sharpness of Japanese swords, as well as about the blacksmith art itself. But in principle, in their manufacture there is no such big difference from the technical process of forging a European blade. However, from a cultural point of view, forging a Japanese sword is a spiritual, almost sacred act. Before him, the blacksmith undergoes various prayer ceremonies, fasting and meditation. Often, he also wears a white Shinto priest. In addition to this, the whole blacksmith shop must be carefully cleaned, by which, by the way, women never even looked in. This was done primarily in order to avoid steel pollution, and women are from the “evil eye”! In general, the work on the Japanese blade represents a certain rite, in which each operation during the forging of the blade was regarded as a religious ceremony. So, for the performance of the last, most responsible operations, the blacksmith even wore a karigina and an eboshi court cap in a court ceremonial costume. The forge Kadzia for all this time became a sacred place and through it stretched the straw rope of Simenava, to which Gohei paper strips were attached - Shinto symbols designed to scare away evil spirits and call upon good spirits. Every day, before starting work, the blacksmith in order to cleanse poured cold water over him and begged for help in the work ahead. No member of his family was allowed to enter the forge, except his assistant. Kaji food was cooked on sacred fire, for sexual relations, animal food (and not only meat — that was by itself, Buddhists did not eat meat, but also fish!), Strong drinks were imposed the strictest taboos. Creating a perfect blade (and a self-respecting blacksmith broke broken blades without any pity!) Often required work for quite a long time.

Samurai and kaji

A scene from the 10th century, Master Munetika, forges the sword “ko-kitsune-maru” (“fox”) with the help of the spirit-fox. Engraving by Ogata Gakko (1873).

How long this time has been can be judged from the information that has come down to us that in the VIII century it took 18 days to make a sword of a tati from a blacksmith. It took nine more days for the silver master to make the frame, six days for the varnishman to sheathe the scabbard, two days for the leather master and another 18 days for the workers who covered the hilt of the sword with leather, twisted it with cords. one unit. The increase in the time needed to forge a strip of a long sword was noted at the end of the 17th century, when the shogun called for the blacksmiths to forge swords directly in their palace. In this case, it took more than 20 days to fabricate only one coarsely polished sword strip. But the production time was sharply reduced if the blade itself was shortened. So, it was believed that a good blacksmith could make a dagger strip in just a day and a half.


The shank of the blade with the signature blacksmith.

The forging process was preceded by the process of refining steel, which the blacksmiths themselves conducted in the old days. As for the sources of raw materials, it is - magnetite iron ore and iron-bearing sand mined in different provinces. After that, this source material in special furnaces of the Tatar was processed into crude steel. This furnace was essentially an improved model of a cheese-burning furnace, which was widely used both in the West and in the East, and the principle of operation was the same. From the 16th century, iron and steel imported from abroad began to be used more often, which greatly facilitated the work of blacksmiths. Currently, there is only one Tatar oven in Japan, in which steel is boiled exclusively for the manufacture of swords.


The image of the stages of the forging of the Edo period.

The most important aspect when forging a Japanese sword is that the blade has a different tempering from the rest of the blade’s body, and the blades themselves are usually forged from two parts: the core and the shell. For the shell, the blacksmith chose an iron plate made of mild steel and covered it with hard steel pieces. Then this bag was heated on a fire of pine coal, and welded by forging. The resulting bar was folded along and (or) across the axis of the blade and welded again, which subsequently gave a characteristic pattern. This technique was repeated about six times. During operation, the bag and tools were repeatedly cleaned, so it produced extremely clean steel. The trick here was that when overlaying metal layers of different strength over each other, large carbon crystals break, causing the amount of dirt in the metal to decrease with each forging.


Blade after forging and hardening before polishing.

It should be noted here that, in contrast to European Damascus steel, the meaning here is not in the welding of steel of different quality to each other, but in the homogenization of all their layers. However, some of the unrelated layers in the metal still remained, but it provided additional viscosity and amazing patterns on the steel. That is, Japanese folding, as well as Damascus forging, is a process of metal refining, the purpose of which is to improve the quality of the source material. For the shell of a Japanese sword, three or four such pieces are made, which, in turn, are re-forged again, and are wrapped one by one into the other. Different folding methods give a variety of types of patterns on the finished blade. So there was a piece of steel consisting of thousands of layers well-welded to each other, and its core was of pure iron or of mild steel, which was also pre-folded and forged several times.


Sword tati work master Nagamatsu. Tokyo National Museum.

The next step was to weld the casing to the core. The standard process consisted of inserting the core into a V-folded sheath and hammering to the desired shape and thickness. The blade, which was essentially ready, now faced the most difficult operation - hardening. Here we note a significant difference from the European sword. He was dipped in a red-hot state in water or oil as a whole. But the blank of the Japanese sword was covered with a mixture of clay, sand and charcoal - the exact recipes of this mixture were kept in strict confidence, and of different thickness. A very thin layer of clay was applied to the future blade, and on the side and back sides - on the contrary, almost half a centimeter thick. A small section of the back side was also left free on the tip in order to harden this part too. After that, the blade was laid with the blade down on the fire. In order for the blacksmith to be able to accurately determine the temperature by the color of the glow, the forge was darkened or generally worked at dusk, or even at night. This color in some historical sources indicated as "February or August moon".


Quenching process: on the right there is a blade covered with clay before quenching. On the left - the structure of the same blade after quenching.

When this heat reached the required value, the blade was immediately immersed in a bath of water. The part of the blade, covered with a safety layer, naturally cooled more slowly and accordingly remained softer than the blade. Depending on the method immediately after tempering followed vacation. To do this, the blade was again heated to 160 degrees Celsius, and then cooled again sharply. Leave by necessity could be repeated several times.


The sword of the tati was a rider's sword, therefore it had fastenings for wearing on a belt.

In the process of hardening, the crystal structure of the steel varies greatly: in the body of the blade it is slightly tightened, and on the blade it is drawn out. In this regard, the curvature of the blade can change by up to 13 millimeters. Knowing about this effect, the blacksmith should, before hardening, set the blade a lower curvature than the one he wants to get from the finished product, that is, make it less curved at first. Despite this, in most cases, the blade still needed to be refined. It was performed by placing the blade with the back side on a red-hot copper block, after which it was cooled again in cold water.


Swordsmen and gunners at work. Old Japanese engraving.

The finished blade was carefully polished and polished (which often took up to 50 days!), While other artisans made a mount for it. There is often confusion in terms - “polishing” and “polishing” in Japan are identical concepts, and this is an inseparable process.

Moreover, if European blades usually consist of two chamfers, and their blade forms another narrow outer chamfer, then the Japanese blade has only one chamfer on each side, that is, there are only two, and not six. Thus, when “sharpening” it is necessary to process the entire surface of the blade, which is why both grinding and polishing are a single process. This technology gives a really very sharp blade, similar to a razor blade, and gives it a great geometry, especially for cutting. But there is one big drawback: with each sharpening, the surface layer is removed from the entire blade, and it “grows thin”, and it becomes thinner and thinner. As for the sharpness of such a blade, there is a legend that when Master Muramas, proud of the unsurpassed sharpness of the sword he made, stuck it into a fast stream, then the leaves floating downstream hit the blade and cut it in two. Another sword, equally renowned in the sense of sharpness, was called “Bob” only because the work of the master Nagamitsu falling on the blade of this sword was also cut in half. During the Second World War, one of the masters chopped off the barrel of a machine gun with a sword, which the film seemed to have even made, but it later seemed to be able to prove that this was nothing more than a propaganda stunt designed to boost the fighting spirit of Japanese soldiers!


The handle of the Japanese sword. The close-fitting of the cords, the skin of the stingray, which covered its hilt, the fastening pin of the maguka and the decoration of manuka, are clearly visible.

When polishing, Japanese masters usually used up to twelve, and sometimes up to fifteen grinding stones with different grain sizes, until the blade received this very famous sharpness. With each polishing, the entire blade is processed, with the accuracy class and the quality of the blade with each treatment being increased. When polishing, various methods and varieties of polishing stone are used, but they usually polish the blade so that it can distinguish such forging and technical subtleties as hamon - the quenching strip from the surface of the blade from extremely light crystalline steel with a boundary line, which is determined by the clay cover applied by the blacksmith ; and Hada - a grainy pattern on steel.

Continuing to compare the European and Japanese blades, we note also that they differ not only in their sharpening, but also in the cross section of the blades of the katana, the knight’s long sword, and various sabers. From here they have completely different cutting qualities. Another difference is in the distal constriction: if the blade of a long sword from the base to the tip becomes significantly thinner, the Japanese blade, and so much thicker, practically does not thin. Some katanas at the base of the blade have a thickness of almost nine (!) Millimeters, and by the yokot they become thinner only up to six millimeters. On the contrary, many Western European long swords have a base thickness of seven millimeters, and to the point they become thinner and there they are only about two millimeters thick.


Tanto. Master Sadamune. Tokyo National Museum.

The two-handed sabers in Europe were also famous, and here they came closest to the Japanese swords. At the same time, how many do not compare the Japanese nihonto and European sabers and swords, a definite answer that it is better to get is impossible, because in fights they have not met, to experiment on today's replicas hardly makes sense, and to break for this valuable ancient swords hardly anyone dares. So there remains a vast field for speculation, and in this case it is unlikely to be able to fill it with reliable information. This is the opinion of a number of historians of a relatively low or, on the contrary, a very high efficiency of the Japanese sword. Yes, we know that he chopped dead bodies well. However, at the same time, the Japanese historian Mitsuo Kure writes that a samurai, armed with a sword and dressed in armor, could neither cut the enemy’s armor nor finish it off!

In any case, for the Japanese samurai, it was the sword that was the measure of everything, and the blades of famous masters were a real treasure. The attitude to those who forged them was also corresponding, so the social position of the blacksmith in Japan was determined mainly by the swords he forged. There were many schools that cherished the technologies they had developed and kept their secrets carefully. The names of famous gunsmiths, such as Masamune or his pupil Muramas, were on everyone's lips, and almost every samurai dreamed to possess the swords of their workings. Naturally, like all mysterious, the Japanese sword spawned many legends, so today it is sometimes simply impossible to separate fiction from truth and determine where fiction is, and where is a real historical fact. Well, for example, it is known that the Muramas blades were distinguished by the greatest sharpness and durability of the blade, but also by the ability to mysteriously attract unhappiness to the owners.


Tanto master Masamune's blade - "can not be perfect." Tokyo National Museum.

But Muramasa is not one master, but a whole dynasty of blacksmiths. And it is not known exactly how many masters with that name were - three or four, but it is a historical fact that their quality was such that the most outstanding samurai considered it an honor to possess them. Despite this, Muramas’s swords were persecuted, and this was almost the only case in the history of the cold weapons. The fact is that the Muramas blades - and this is also documented - brought misfortune to the family of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the unifier of fragmented feudal Japan. His grandfather died from such a blade, his father was seriously wounded, Tokugawa himself was cut in childhood by Muramas’s sword; and when his son was sentenced to seppuku, it was with this sword that his assistant cut off his head. As a result, Tokugawa decided to destroy all the Muramas blades that belonged to his family. The example of Tokugawa was followed by many daimyo and samurai of the time.

Moreover, for one hundred years after Ieyasu Tokugawa’s death, the wearing of such swords was severely punished - right up to the death penalty. But since the swords were perfect in their fighting qualities, many samurai tried to keep them: they hid, they forged the master's signature so that they could pretend that it was the sword of another blacksmith. As a result, according to some calculations, about 40 of Muramas swords reached our days. Of these, only four are in museum collections, and all the rest - from private collectors.


Kosigatana era Nambokutyo-Muromati, XIV - XV centuries. Tokyo National Museum.

It is believed that the Nambocutho period was the era of the sunset of the great era of the Japanese sword, and then, due to the increase in their mass production, their quality deteriorated greatly. Moreover, as in Europe, where the blades of the brand "Ulfbert" were the subject of numerous speculations and fakes, so it was customary in Japan to fake the blades of famous masters. Moreover, just like in Europe, the famous sword could have its own name and was inherited from generation to generation. Such a sword was considered the best gift for a samurai. The history of Japan knows not one case when the gift of a good sword (the famous master) turned an enemy into an ally. Well, in the end, the Japanese sword spawned so many different stories, both authentic and fictional, related to its history and application, that it is sometimes difficult even for a specialist to separate truth from fiction in them. On the other hand, they are certainly very useful for both filmmakers who make films about samurai and writers who write romantic books! One of them is the story of how one old oil merchant cursed Ieyasu Tokugawa, for which one of his entourage and hacked him with a sword in the neck. The blade was of such quality and passed through it so swiftly that the merchant took a few more steps before his head rolled off his shoulders. So there was such a thing in Japan, and every samurai had the right to “kill and leave,” i.e. to kill any member of the lower class who committed an offensive in his view for his honor, and all lower classes would have to admit it.


So the samurai used their sword to finish off the defeated opponent.

But the wizard, who made the armor, didn’t use admission as an equal to the blacksmiths in Japan, although there were known entire families of famous master armors, who passed their skills and secrets from generation to generation. Nevertheless, they rarely signed their works, despite the fact that they produced products of amazing beauty and perfection, which cost a lot of money.


R.S. Finally, I can inform all readers of this subject who are interested in this subject, that my book “Samurai. The first full encyclopedia "(Series" The best warriors in history ") is out of print. (Moscow: Yauza: Eksmo, 2016 g. -656 p. With illustrations. ISBN 978-5-699-86146-0). It included a lot of materials from those that were published on the pages of the VO, but some others supplement - some of what was here is not in it, something is given in more detail, and something of what is in book, it is unlikely to appear for thematic reasons. This book is the fruit of 16 years of work on the topic, because my first materials on samurai and ashigaru saw the light exactly 16 years ago - these were two chapters in the book “Knights of the East”. Then, in 2007, a book was published for children at the Rosmen publishing house - Atlas of Samurais and many articles in various refereed editions. Well, now this result. It is a pity, of course, to part with this topic forever, and to know that you’ll never write anything equal to this book anymore. However, ahead new themes, new works. I am obliged to note (I just have to, so it should be!) That the book has been prepared with the support of the Russian State Scientific Foundation, grant No. XXUMX-16-41 93535 of the year. A significant amount of photo-illustrations for it was provided by the Antiques of Japan company (http / antikvariat-japan.ru). The drawing for the cover was made by A. Karaschuk. A number of color illustrations provided by LLC "Star". Well, and work has already begun on new books ...
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  1. +4
    21 September 2016 06: 33
    Interesting, very ... Suddenly I learned that Damascus is located in Europe. negative
    "unlike European Damascus steel," Author: Vyacheslav Shpakovsky

    Mighty Russian language ... request
    1. +4
      21 September 2016 08: 12
      Quote: V.ic
      Interesting, very ... Suddenly I learned that Damascus is located in Europe.

      "Damascus" blades were made only in Damascus, and if not, but sold? belay
      Quote: V.ic
      "unlike European Damascus steel," Author: Vyacheslav Shpakovsky

      Damascus steel manufactured in Europe - European Damascus steel. bully
      Quote: V.ic
      Mighty Russian language ...
      Your only reasonable thought .. tongue .
      1. 0
        15 November 2016 07: 57
        Quote: Penzuck
        "Damascus" blades were made only in Damascus, and if not, but sold?

        Indeed, according to research, Damascus blades were not produced in Damascus itself, but were only sold there. Damascus in medieval times was a trading city (hub), but the workshops themselves were not there.

        Quote: Penzuck
        Damascus steel manufactured in Europe - European Damascus steel.


        Damascus steel was naturally known in Europe, but not produced. They had their own crucible steel and I think not very much that it was inferior to Damascus ...

        When talking about the legendary "Damascus steel", then this material refers to the Persian-Indian crucible steel with a high carbon content (up to 2%). The pattern appears due to the formation of a carbide matrix and ferrite during slow cooling of the material. With regard to mechanical properties, carbides play here supposedly a key role; during sharpening and grinding, soft ferrite fibers were ground, and the hardest carbide matrices remained on the cutting edge - the edge of the blade turned out to be composed of indistinguishable to the eye, but very hard and very dangerous teeth.
    2. +5
      21 September 2016 08: 35
      Well, you just "got away". No wonder it is said that he who seeks always finds. Although it is clear that in this case "Damascus" is a technology ... We are not in a kindergarten, where every word is explained!
      1. +1
        21 September 2016 18: 51
        user / kalibr / "Although it is clear that in this case" Damascus "is a technology ..."

        ... "unlike European Damascus steel," this is your option ...
        ...Unlike applied in Europe Damascus steel, this is my option. He would not have raised questions. You did not like Russian at school.
        1. +1
          22 September 2016 19: 56
          In general, there is no difference, the meaning is the same.
  2. +9
    21 September 2016 07: 40
    The history of Japan is so * pretentious * that real events are simply lost among the stream of myths that pass as reality. I met Japanese blades which, like trophies, were among the Cossacks after the REV and officers after 1945. A lot can be said about the blades, but the fact that they were inferior to the ZLATOUSTOVSKY blades was what he himself was sitting on. About how the owners of the trophies with a grin said that: * cutting the one who holds the saber with both hands is very simple *, I heard from those who fought with the Japanese in 1905 and 1945, some had more than one trophy.
    By the way, samurai became a * respected * estate only in cinema and legends about ancient Japan, before they were fighting servants and no more.
    1. +4
      21 September 2016 08: 32
      The cult of samurai begins in the Edo era. As soon as they stopped really fighting, it was necessary to "gild the pill".
      1. +5
        21 September 2016 10: 55
        Japanas are those pontorezes too! There, while all the knees will drink the seagull in the blood, they will rub it and fill the foreheads of the cones with bows. Why talk about forging swords! Do not eat, drink, don’t ... until the sword forges! If the master has not died from exhaustion, then the sword will reach the consumer. lol
        But in general, the material is presented beautifully, to the author +
        1. +1
          21 September 2016 13: 31
          Rituals in the form of fasting and prayer before and at the time of forging weapons are characteristic not only of Japan. With variations, they are inherent in all cultures until the enlightened industrial era. Japan is unique here only because of their self-isolation, this era came at the end of the 19th century. And therefore the details are preserved the most. Well, and still their manic passion helped to record everything.
          Well, about
          Quote: uskrabut
          Do not eat
          no one wrote, it is said about "fasting" and softer than "great fast" among the Orthodox.
    2. +7
      21 September 2016 10: 28
      so the word "samurai" is translated as "one who serves." In our country, servicemen in the old days were also called "serving people".
      a samurai of high rank was called "hatamoto", translated as "the one who is at the banner." In RIA, the first officer's rank also sounded like a "warrant officer" (although before that it used to be the position of a standard bearer). Interesting analogies for two completely different languages. Yes
      1. +1
        21 September 2016 13: 17
        Yes, you interestingly noticed! To you +.
        1. +5
          21 September 2016 13: 37
          well, it's not Zadornov's to listen that the word "samurai" comes from the Russian phrase "I am from the Amur" Yes
    3. 0
      8 December 2016 13: 19
      This is a button accordion. The massive Japanese factory-made samurai blades in the first 20 century were of disgusting quality. As indeed our pre-war crafts. Both of them were of little practical importance.
  3. +3
    21 September 2016 07: 48
    Just a song, blacksmithing .... Thank you ... But .. Damascus is still not in Europe ... The secret of Damascus steel is not unraveled so far ... In the early 1840s, a damask was received in Zlatoust, from which blades were created that are in no way inferior in their properties to the classical weapons of Ancient India and Damascus steel .. But ...
    1. +5
      21 September 2016 08: 31
      You know, spearheads made of Damascus steel were found in the Baltic States, as shown by metallography. There was an article about this in the journal Soviet Archeology. I think all normal people understand that "Damascus" in this case is not a city, but a technology.
      1. +2
        21 September 2016 09: 17
        I think all normal people understand that "Damascus" in this case is not a city, but a technology
        .... Yes, technology, but not European ... Why did I mention Zlatoust..Ural ... it is somehow closer to Europe ..
        1. +3
          21 September 2016 10: 44
          Quote: parusnik
          ... Yes, technology, but not European ... Why did I mention Zlatoust .. Ural .. it is somehow closer to Europe ..

          laughing
          Hare already to fault the author, he wrote everything correctly. negative
    2. +4
      21 September 2016 11: 31
      Quote: parusnik
      Just a song, blacksmithing .... Thank you ... But .. Damascus is still not in Europe ... The secret of Damascus steel is not unraveled so far ... In the early 1840s, a damask was received in Zlatoust, from which blades were created that are in no way inferior in their properties to the classical weapons of Ancient India and Damascus steel .. But ...

      Alexey! There are books about damask steel and damask steel. In Gurevich's book "The Mysteries of Damask Pattern", three types of damask steel secrets are identified: smelting, forging, hardening and finishing. The first secret was solved by Anosov, the subsequent ones were partially solved. Damascus steel - the secrets are completely solved and V.O. Shpakovsky correctly described them, this is a forged composite and made of three types of steel. Japanese damask steel is a naturally alloyed steel made from molybdenum-containing ores, alloyed ores are often found in nature. You will also find the technology for the production of Japanese damask steel at Gurevich. Now about forging. In those days, there were no instruments for determining the properties of metal, but human senses made it possible to determine the quality of the workpieces, which was determined by the ringing of the metal, by the ability to bend, elasticity. In the dark smithy, it was easier to determine the temperature of the metal by the heat and heat colors. And further. Igor Taganov has a series of articles about bulat "Riddles of patterns of bulat" and "Sunset of legends about bulat", which is also very interesting. It will also be interesting to know that on the legendary damask blade, a steel saber with 4 percent chrome, a notch was made on the damask blade.
      1. +1
        21 September 2016 13: 00
        Amurets
        Nikolay .. that’s all absolutely true .. and your comment and article by V.O. Shpakovsky ... One thing against it .. Damascus steel, damask steel, well, no matter how not European technology .. In Europe it was prestigious to have weapons from Damascus damask steel .. All the same, it was valued higher ..
        1. +2
          21 September 2016 14: 16
          Quote: parusnik
          I’ll run into one thing .. Damascus steel, damask steel, well, as if not European technology .. In Europe it was prestigious to have weapons from Damascus damask steel .. All the same, it was valued higher ..

          Alexei! No need to rest, because the eastern edged weapons as appreciated in Europe and Russia, and so appreciated. I completely agree with you that Damascus and Damascus are oriental technologies. Remember the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great and the Indian weapon of the CHAKRA, a damask ring which, after a throw, demolished the heads of several soldiers. This is the first meeting of Europeans with damask steel. So there’s nothing to argue about, Oriental arms became several times better than European ones.
        2. +4
          22 September 2016 09: 38
          About "Damascus" they are completely wrong. Both in claims to the author and in your detailed explanations.
          Damascus technology was known and used for the production of weapons and even armor in Europe from the time of Ancient Rome and throughout the Middle Ages. In Europe, the Bulat technology was not known.

          Moreover, the city of Damascus was not a production center, but the largest (for Europeans) center for the resale of weapons, including those made using this technology. It was produced in large quantities in Iran and India. It's just that during the Crusades and the subsequent fall of Byzantium — consider the aggressive expansion of the Turks — the bulk of Damascus products came to Europe through Damascus.

          Despite this, products using this technology were made by the best European craftsmen during the Franks, and during the empire of Charlemagne, and during the Viking era, and later. Simply, due to the economic collapse of Europe, it was expensive, labor-intensive, and therefore piece goods of the highest price category. In the late Middle Ages and Modern Times, steelmaking technology in Europe has stepped forward. Therefore, "Damascus" has lost some phenomenal consumer (combat) advantages over weapons and armor made of mass-produced steel at a high labor intensity of production. For this reason, "Damascus" remained in the VIP category, and later mainly as an artistic technology in the production of primarily bladed weapons. Although, for example, there are known examples of European firearms (barrels) for the 16th century from "Damascus".
      2. +5
        21 September 2016 14: 41
        From my own metallurgical experience, I can say that the sense organs are not inferior to instruments with due experience naturally. An experienced steelmaker as an express laboratory and temperature, and chemical analysis by eye could do (I do not know what is happening right now in the branches, therefore, in the past tense). And the fact that modern alloyed steels surpass the most magnificent creations of antiquity, the way it should be, progress does not stand still. Now you can set the desired chemical composition of steel, and not rely on the mercy of nature, modern forging equipment allows you to achieve significantly greater impact force, and thermal equipment allows you to bring the steel structure to almost any desired value.
  4. +2
    21 September 2016 09: 35
    It seems that there is a good film on the Discovery television channel about the production of Japanese swords or on History, I don’t remember, I watched for a long time, the production process itself from ore selection to the final product is described in quite detail and interestingly and shown.
    1. 0
      21 September 2016 14: 37
      Quote: Nehist
      It seems that there is a good film on the Discovery television channel about the production of Japanese swords or on History, I don’t remember, I watched for a long time, the production process itself from ore selection to the final product is described in quite detail and interestingly and shown.

      At Discovery! I also watched this movie. knowing technology is one thing, seeing it is another thing.
      It seems that in Japan there is only one family of blacksmiths who work on this technology.
      1. +1
        22 September 2016 09: 46
        No. There is not one family, but a whole guild. If I may say so. With very draconian certification rules. The number of masters (workshops) in the region is 50. The same is for sharpening and polishing.
        But steel smelting for blades, as indicated in the article, is done on only one furnace. One heat - about 200 kg of steel. After the melting, the whole workshop of gunsmiths is smelting steel from this furnace. This is done intentionally - the halo, traditions and high status of this industry are preserved. Accordingly, product prices. That allows all participants to have self-sufficiency and income. Otherwise, the products would become cheaper and could not compete with the modern production of specialized firms.
  5. +2
    21 September 2016 10: 04
    Vyacheslav Olegovich, thank you again for the good article, and especially for the detailed description of Muromas, so to speak, an "interesting personality" (s) in the history of Japanese weapons.
    One of the four swords of his work stored in museums, wakizashi (or maybe a tanto?), Is here in St. Petersburg, in the Artillery Museum. I’ll go and send a photo. I would say that the samurai exhibition is one of the most interesting there (even, which is unusual for military museums, a separate mini-hall is devoted to Japanese erotic art, but this is so, for laughs wink )
    1. +1
      21 September 2016 13: 22
      I was at this exhibition in Moscow and shot a lot of things, but I didn't sort and sign the pictures in time, and many, so to speak, "disappeared", finding themselves without signatures. If you take a photo and send it, I will be grateful and maybe someday I will use it. Now this is, in fact, the last material on weapons proper. Although there is still a lot of materials on the culture of Japan and its history.
      1. 0
        21 September 2016 14: 11
        give a month))
        Vyacheslav Olegovich, Japanese culture can fascinate, including me. But, roughly speaking, it is "sharpened" exclusively for the Japanese and for the Japanese themselves. As far as I understand, they are a rather closed nation?
        Write about her. She does not receive much attention in the domestic media.
        and about the story. If the period, starting with the victory of Minamoto, is even more or less imaginable, then the earlier time - Heian - is generally a dark forest, although there, it seems, there was a development of arts: painting, literature. Maybe someone will say that this is not a topic for a military site, but why not? It’s interesting!
        1. +2
          21 September 2016 14: 26
          Once you ask, I will write for sure, all the more so because of what, but there were enough wars. Surprisingly, even my granddaughter was seduced by Japanese culture (and herself!) And goes to Japanese courses, well, I am at one with her. This adjusts to the appropriate mood. A very unusual culture, although the language belongs to the Altai language group.
          1. +1
            21 September 2016 15: 51
            good deed, sincerely!
            Thank you very much in advance! I think many of us will be interested!
  6. +4
    21 September 2016 11: 34
    Very interesting. So detailed about the stages of manufacturing Japanese swords I have not yet
    was reading. good
  7. 2-0
    0
    21 September 2016 13: 34
    Yeah, interesting. Here are just moments on illustrations and rituals on forging a sword ... Sitting on your heels and on a diet you won’t infuse much. And according to rituals, too, in my search, tales.
    1. +4
      21 September 2016 14: 01
      Forced to disappoint, but this is exactly how the blacksmith sat forged in Japan traditionally and the hammer thrashed with a not very heavy sledgehammer on a very long handle. Well, about the contraindications of a lean diet to work, you tell our ancestors. The 1000 years that have passed since baptism clearly show that one does not interfere much with the other. By the way, at one time, while working as a steelworker, he himself fasted and didn’t die, he only drove the excess fat and began to sweat less laughing
    2. +1
      21 September 2016 14: 28
      It’s not I who painted, but they, and they know better how it was. It’s hard for us to sit on the heels, and they sit like this all their lives.
    3. +1
      21 September 2016 14: 30
      In the historical literature on oriental weapons, I found information that it took several years to make a saber or sword from damask steel. From the initial cutting of Wutz, to the manufacture of a specific sample of weapons. One incorrect heating, one inaccurate blow of the hammer and many days of work went to smarka. Read Beckert. Iron. Facts and legends. How humanity went to high-quality metal. And how the blacksmiths worked in different eras.
      1. +2
        21 September 2016 15: 31
        Quote: Amurets
        that it took several years to make a sword or sword from damask steel

        here it must be understood that most of the time the blacksmith spent preparing components, steelmaking with a minimum of impurities in the form of solid particles of slag, as well as related elements, primarily oxygen and sulfur. Well, the saturation of iron with carbon in those days was also a non-trivial task, the temperature was not enough. Well, the refinement in the form of polishing polishing was also not a quick process.
    4. +3
      22 September 2016 09: 59
      These are not tales. This is the current state of manufacturing weapons in Japan using traditional technology. And making it (VIP category) in medieval Japan. Naturally, in the era of the warring provinces, when the number of samurai of all the country's armies was estimated at 250 thousand people, most weapons were made much simpler and sooooo fast. Without dancing there with a tambourine. By the way, the attitude to weapons was more utilitarian. Yes exactly. This does not contradict the deification of the sword that has always existed in Japan.
      During the long peace period under the Tokugawa Shogunate, everything was just very formalized. Since there was no need to quickly arm mass armies. The development of VIP swords has not gone away.
  8. +1
    22 September 2016 05: 29
    Thank you for the article!
  9. 0
    22 September 2016 12: 53
    a samurai, armed with a sword and dressed in o-yoyu armor, could neither cut through the enemy’s armor nor finish him off!

    Well then a samurai, with conventional military weapons. The aforementioned armor has a peculiarity - an expensive well-polished blade with a very sharp cutting edge cuts the elements of the fixing cords protruding outward upon impact. Due to which, in some elements of the armor, you can make a gap in two or three strokes. That's just polishing with a cutting edge while causing damage, especially if the blade is in the hands of war, and not a specially trained cutter. Therefore, using such weapons in battle is like casting musket bullets from family jewels. He was cherished, sometimes stronger than his own life. Carefully kept, boasted to each other. The technology described in the article just relates to the manufacture of such elite samples for which a full battle is tantamount to disaster.
    1. +4
      22 September 2016 13: 59
      Wrong.

      1. Thinning armor, although harmful to the binding cords, is not as large as you think. And to cut open with 2-3 strokes is a futile task. Even with non-resistance of the enemy. Do not flatter yourself or samurai. Yes, the cords will be cut in places. But the plates will not be so easily crumbled. At least not even on the 10th hit. For the plates to begin to crumble, one has to cut too much there. Part of the cords goes UNDER the overlap of the next row of plates.
      Injections and only injections can quickly put an enemy out of action. Yes, and then, as in European armor, if stabbed in vulnerable places. Although the Japanese armor is less durable than the European one, everything there is quite good with security from blade weapons.

      2. All of the above expensive blades are great for battle. Regardless of the wealth of the mount.
      For military use, polishing is not needed. It is important only for the safety of the blade. If we discard the aesthetic part of the question. Fact - a polished blade begins to rust more slowly, all other things being equal, compared to a blade without polishing. That is, only polished.

      3. There is an inaccurate point about sharpening blades in the article. Namely - about the fact that the war blade is sharpened with a DOUBLE wedge or even a razor sharpening. The inaccuracy is this: This method of sharpening was used during the time of peace under the Tokugawa shogunate and is used on modern blades. Since such a sharpening is optimal for chopping up an unhurried enemy (dueling of samurai in kimonos and self-defense from robbers) and showing all sorts of tricks for cutting, up to cutting a thrown scarf (modernity). An attempt to chop with a blade with such a sharpening of metal armor is a sure and quick death for a cutting edge. Regardless of the "magic" quality of the blade.
      During the mass civil wars in Japan, swords were sharpened as in Europe and all over the world with a fairly obtuse angle: on a lens or on the so-called "chisel sharpening" on 4 sides - when the blade smoothly converges on a wedge, and the edge itself is sharpened sufficiently obtuse angle. Otherwise, the edge on the sword will crumble when hitting the enemy's armor or weapons. And then, at the point of chipping, a stress point is formed from which a crack can go across the blade, despite the less hardened core. And the blade will break fast enough. More details about the effect of sharpening on metal cutting are easy to find on the Internet: a) for katana and swords in general, using the keywords "katana sharpening angle" (for example, here http://kiai.ru/article_info.php?articles_id=6); b) about metal cutting in general - by the keywords "chisel sharpening angle".
      1. 0
        22 September 2016 19: 54
        Thanks for the nice addition. I completely forgot about it when I wrote, but I knew ...
      2. 0
        23 September 2016 14: 57
        Quote: abrakadabre
        Thinning armor, although harmful to the binding cords, is not as big as you think.

        A traditional katana cuts all the cords it comes into contact with. The rest depends on the design of the armor at a given point. As far as I remember, that video talked about the fact that the plates were separated enough to continue the insert. But the notch on the blade was impressive, so the experiment with traditional katana was over.
        Quote: abrakadabre
        Injections and only injections can quickly put an enemy out of action.

        Well, then why were these clumsy saber-katanas needed at all :)?
        Quote: abrakadabre
        All the above expensive blades are great for battle.

        The blade, which took more time to polish than forging, is in fact intended for only one thing - for chopping rice mats. The rest, as I already wrote, is shooting from a musket with bullets cast from family gold. Yes, golden bullets are better than lead ones, because they are harder. But the use of such weapons requires a special case. To some shogun’s head, for example. Or at least kill five with one swipe.
        Quote: abrakadabre
        For military use, polishing is not needed.

        And if the enemy is covered with rice mats :)? A 20cm thick rice mat will only overpower a well-polished blade. This is of course sarcasm, but the article describes the manufacture of just such traditional blades for which polishing is the most important thing. And to restore the beaten traditional blade from these masters is an amount comparable to the cost of the katana itself.
        Quote: abrakadabre
        Fact - a polished blade begins to rust more slowly, all other things being equal, compared to a blade without polishing.

        Those same Japanese masters who polish the limited batch of traditional blades from the real tamahagane indicated in the article, think differently.
        Quote: abrakadabre
        An attempt to chop metal armor with such a sharpening blade is a sure and quick death for the cutting edge.

        By the way, an interesting moment, how are "those" blades made by such and such a master in ancient times sharpened? It will be necessary to take an interest in this question somehow. But old blades, on the sides of which the inner layers of metal are visible, is kind of a well-known theme. Whereas lenticular sharpening of the cutting edge would hardly do such harm to them.
        Quote: abrakadabre
        And then, in the place of spalling, a stress point forms from which a crack can go across the blade, despite the less hardened core.
        In the notch, it’s possible to then grind and round the edges, reducing stress and avoiding the appearance of a crack.
        Quote: abrakadabre
        about metal cutting in general - according to the keywords "chisel sharpening angle".

        I recall a lesson in labor in high school. We were told that with a chisel, in no case should you strike. But the chisels were still chipped. Along the edges - this is most likely they were dropped onto the tiled floor. But there were chips in the middle. Angle 60%, if that.
        Quote: abrakadabre
        easy to find on the Internet: a) for katana and swords in general by keywords "katana sharpening angle"

        Here the opinion comes across different. Including such that remodelers from high-quality steel can do without a lens.
        1. +1
          27 September 2016 10: 01
          A traditional katana cuts all the cords it comes into contact with. The rest depends on the design of the armor at a given point. As far as I remember, that video talked about the fact that the plates were separated enough to continue the insert.

          1) That's just in contact with a very small number of cords.
          2) The adversary is not a motionless inert target. He moves all the time and strives to kick back.
          But even purely theoretically: after trimming from the first swing-blow, then we must already cut through the surface of the metal plates in order to get to the cords hidden under the overlap of the next row of the set. Only after cutting which, some plates will begin to fall out. But with the cutting of metal into several overlaps on a shock-absorbing lining (the body in the under-armor), any sword does not have a situation to say the least. Not only the katana, but also any other blades. What is in the east, what is in Europe.
          Thus, methodically and precisely, a cut into a cut can be scored over an o-ery only on a corpse or on a wooden deck of a suitable size.
          Well, then why were these clumsy saber-katanas needed at all :)?
          You will not believe! But on a samurai there are enough less hospitable places for cutting than trying to cut a cuirass, shoulder shield or helmet. For the analysis and statistics of characteristic combat injuries in the infantry formation during hand-to-hand combat, it is quite representative that the results of studying the remains of the famous mass graves at Visby (o.Gotland) can be used. So, most of the injuries of the dead (well-dressed in the mass, albeit in outdated types of armor at that time) are injuries in the limbs and face. Moreover, the nature of the damage directly indicates that, basically, it was not chopping, but stabbing and cutting (cutting) strokes without breaking the bones. Damage statistics say that the bulk of the militias were repeatedly wounded in the soft parts of the limbs, and after that they finished off with a blow to the head (mainly an injection in the face).
          Those same Japanese masters who polish the limited batch of traditional blades from the real tamahagane indicated in the article, think differently.
          It doesn’t matter what they consider and declare there. It is important what they do.
          By the way, an interesting moment, how are "those" blades made by such and such a master in ancient times sharpened?
          The "same" blades were serviced, corrected, and sharpened over the centuries. Including during the Tokugawa shogunate, when sharper sharpening began to be used more often: a wedge or even a razor. Analysis of specimens that have come down from earlier times in the form in which they were used, just shows the "armor-piercing" sharpening. It couldn't be otherwise - this is materials science, baby! Solid state physics has not changed since then.
          In the notch, it’s possible to then grind and round the edges, reducing stress and avoiding the appearance of a crack.
          Can. And it was done. To save the blade. In those cases when it was no longer possible to grind. Forging would be too expensive. And so it was with ALL nations.
          1. 0
            27 September 2016 10: 39
            (Continued)
            I recall a lesson in labor in high school. We were told that with a chisel, in no case should you strike. But the chisels were still chipped. Along the edges - this is most likely they were dropped onto the tiled floor. But there were chips in the middle. Angle 60%, if that.

            1) The angle of sharpening a chisel, depending on the hardness of the material being cut:



            The simplest template for checking the sharpening of a chisel in a workshop:



            To this table it is worth adding materials such as wood - the angle of sharpening of chisels 20-30 degrees, meat cutting - the angle of sharpening up to 10 degrees.
            Grinding angle of 60 degrees - optimal for cutting simple iron and low carbon steel. The most for metal work in the framework of the school curriculum.

            Here the opinion comes across different. Including such that remodelers from high-quality steel can do without a lens.
            In our time of total illiteracy, it is very fashionable to have an opinion that is different from existing reality and normal knowledge. This is the problem: few people try to get normal knowledge. But almost everyone has an excellent opinion. Moreover, in areas in which they understand ... uh ... a little in general. The historical excursions of the same Fomenko are an example of this.

            I recommend, nevertheless, strive for knowledge. And do not collect opinions ...

            For example, let it be a little old book, but very thorough about the blade sections: "The Book of Swords", Richard F. Burton [media = http: //www.uhlib.ru/istorija/kniga_mechei/
            p9.php]. In particular, chapter 7, fig. 118 - cross sections of swords:



            All explanations of the numbers are nearby in the text. But even a cursory glance shows the edge sharpening at a blunter angle than the main body of the blade. And this is correct if the blade is made to meet with solid objects.
  10. 0
    23 September 2016 12: 11
    Interesting and informative. And a rare case recently, when you can learn something else from comments ..)
  11. 0
    23 September 2016 17: 09
    but about ours when they write ???
  12. 0
    1 October 2016 17: 49
    Many thanks! I’ll buy a book for sure! And about swords, like everything Asian, it's beautiful, but not functional! Therefore, Europe is stronger. But from an aesthetic point of view, of course, for special connoisseurs.
  13. 0
    24 October 2016 19: 47
    article by nothing. It would not hurt the author to study the materiel first, for example, to read Bazhenov or, at worst, the pop Horev. A Japanese brand sword was finally cut out from a roughly shaped forged blank. and yes, by the way, the Emperor belongs to the caste of peasants if Che.
  14. 0
    30 October 2022 15: 26
    I remembered a joke about the perfection of everything Japanese ...
    "... The archives of the Novocherkassk Museum contain a document from the era of the Russian-Japanese war - a simple report to the authorities: "We were sitting in the second line of defense, burning a fire (the front line was far enough), cooking food. Suddenly, a Japanese man in black jumped out of the bushes, became hiss and strangely waving his arms. Esaul Krivoshlykov was hit in the ear, which is why he soon died.
    So it is with swords. And with a culture - a cartoon: "Ah-ah! Japanese! Where are we with a pig snout ...".
    OK then. Mother Japan, Damascus, fairy tales... But what about damask steel, which Zlatoust craftsmen made in the 19th century? Anosov P.P. discoverer of lost secrets.
  15. 0
    30 October 2022 15: 57
    Here is the Zlatoust steel of Amosov, who rediscovered the secrets of the ancient masters in 1825, resembles Yesaul Krivoshlykov ...
    And Jack London occasionally mentions the "Russian knife" - the value of the natives of Alaska.

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