|
|
|
| Japanese Samurai Swords | |
| Shop & Compare Samurai Swords and Japanese Accessories | |
|
|
|
Japanese Samurai Swords -
Notable
Samurai Warriors in History
|
Sometimes, the katana is used with a smaller sword known as Wakizashi or tantō. Together, they are called a daishō (which means big and small), and wearing them was a symbol exclusive for the samurai warriors only as it represented their honor and power.
Through the course of time, the length of
samurai sword had been altered to suit the ease of use during combat.
Generally, the blade length is greater than 60 cm (23.6 inches) and it is
moderately curved. Samurai warriors wore this sword with the cutting edge
up.
How to Check for Authenticity of Samurai Swords
Owning a samurai sword either as part of a decoration, collection or for martial arts activity, brings also honor to some people. But with so many out in the market now, how does one find a real one over replicas?
A Japanese steel called "Tamahagane” is used in making the Samurai sword. Thus, to test if it’s really made from a metal, a magnet can be used. Most replicas are made of aluminum and do not react with the magnet.
Another way to check for authenticity is to use a magnifying lens and check on the temper line or hamon. Tiny dots or specks are to be found along the border of such line. If it’s smooth, it’s likely to be a fake.
Going to a renowned store that has the reputation for selling authentic samurai swords
is the best and most convenient way to stay safe. You can try to get recommendations from friends and associations who are considered experts on the field.
As a general precaution, the sword must be treated with extreme care during handling. It should never be considered a toy and played around with. It should be kept away from kids and shouldn’t be handled at all by them.
The blade of the samurai sword is extremely sharp and may cause injury if mishandled. When cleaning the blade, it should be positioned with the edge away from you and it should never be touched. Even when sheathing or drawing out the sword, the blade should always be positioned away and never towards the person.
The blade of the sword must be well- oiled, powdered and polished to prevent rust from developing. The choji oil, which is 99% mineral oil and 1% clove oil for fragrance, is the traditional oil used. However, the salts in the oil can also be a food for molds so it should be inspected and aired frequently.
When storing, the sword is kept inside the scabbard and it’s placed in a horizontal position with the sharp edge up. In such manner, the condition of the scabbard and the sword’s edge are preserved. The sword must fit well into the scabbard. If it starts to loosen up, it must be fixed to avoid accidental unsheathing and possible injury.
Notable Samurai Warriors in History
Bashô
1644-1694
Famous poet
Matsuo Bashô stands as one of the greatest - if not greatest - of Japan's
haiku composers. A samurai turned wandering priest, Bashô wrote a book
called 'Narrow Road of Oku' and many of his poems remain well-known in
Japan - and around the world.
Chikamatsu
1653-1725
Playwright
Chikamatsu Monzaemon, whose real name was Sugimori Nobumori, was born in
Nagato Province and into a minor samurai family. He was at first a monk,
then returned to secular life and established himself at Osaka. Starting
at around age 30, he would become one of Japan's most prolific and beloved
playwrights, composing as many as 160 plays for the Kabuki and Bunraku
(puppet) theatres.
Many of his pieces were historically based and as many were on
contemporary subjects that appealed to the common people. One of his
favored devices was the tragic love between either a samurai or a townsman
and a courtesan. In most of his plays, he presented a moral dillemna - the
hero was presented with the confliction of duty and emotion - of what
society expected and with what the hero felt in his heart. His most famous
work was Chushingura, the story of the 47 Rônin.
It may be that part of his ability came from the demands of writing for
the Bunraku - he once commented that writing for that stage required him
to make his dialogue as compelling and vivid as possible, given that,
after all, the audience was looking at simple puppets.
Hasegawa Tôhaku
1539-1610
Noted painter
Tôhaku was born at Nanao in Noto Province. After painting a number of
Buddhist-influenced works in his native Noto, he moved to Kyoto around
1471 and studied the Kanô school of painting. He produced a volume of work
over the next 30 years and in 1603 was given the title Hôkyô. He died on
March 20 1610. Tôhaku's paintings were done in a number of styles, from
his earlier buddhist efforts to his later, black-ink genpitsu tai
productions.
His most famous works include 'Picture of Pine Forest', 'Picture of Monkey
in Dead Trees', and 'Picture of Flower and Trees'. Tôhaku is attributed
with the 'Portrait of Takeda Shingen' (which has long defined the popular
perception of Shingen) but recently scholars have wondered if the subject
of that work was in fact a Hatakeyama lord.
Ihara Saikaku
d.1693
Novelist
Saikaku was one of the mid-Edo Period's most popular authors. Like
Chikamatsu's plays, Saikaku's works appealed to the common people and were
often amusing while being supurbly crafted. His favorite theme was the
life of the bourgeois, which provided him with a volume of material to
depict both realistically and in a skillfully light manner.
Imai Sôkyû
1521-1591
Noted tea master and merchant
Sôkyû was one of Sakai's most important merchants and a member of the
city's leadership council. When Oda Nobunaga demanded that Sakai
acknowledge his authority, Sôkyû urged the council to submit and sent
Nobunaga two valuable tea items (Matsushima no Tsubo and Jôô no Nasu) as a
good-will gesture. Nobunaga awarded Sôkyû for his efforts by giving him a
lucrative commisson to manufacture firearms for the Oda. Shôkyû instructed
Nobunaga in the tea ceremony and as a tea master later enjoyed the favor
of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was present for the Grand Kitano Tea Ceremony.
Kamo-no-Chomei
1155-1216
Noted author
Chomei was the second son of Kamo-no-Nagatsugu, an important figure at the
Kamo Shrine. Chomei proved himself a talented poet, being published in the
Imperial poetry anthology Senzai-wakashu and a member of a number of
notable poetry circles.
He became a monk in 1204 and moved into the countryside. During his
self-imposed exile he wrote the Hôjôki, a powerful view of the harshness
of the world around him. In addition, he produced an anthology of his own
poetry called the Kamo-no-Chomei-shu.
Kano Eitoku
1543-1590
Noted painter
Eitoku was the son of Kano Shôei (1514-1562) and carried on the Kano
school of painting as established by Kano Masanobu (1434-1530). Eitoku was
likely tutored at a young age by his talented grandfather Motonobu
(1476-1559), who introduced him to shôgun Ashikaga Yoshiteru in 1552.
In 1566 Eitoku produced a number of paintings for the Abbot's Quarters of
the Jukônin in the Daitokuji. He was contracted by Oda Nobunaga to produce
a series of wall paintings (shôhekiga) for Azuchi Castle around 1578 but
these were all lost when Azuchi was destroyed in 1582. He afterwards
worked for Toyotomi Hideyoshi and produced work for Juraku and Osaka
Castle.
Eitoku died suddenly in 1590 and his unfinished projects were completed by
his son Mitsunobu. His most famous works included 'Chinese Lions',
'Flowers and Birds of the Four Seasons', and 'Scenes In and Around Kyoto'
(a screen Nobunaga sent as a gift, along with 'Tale of Genji', to the
eastern warlord Uesugi Kenshin in 1574). The last is useful to historians
in picturing life in Kyoto in the mid-16th Century.
Murasaki Shikibu
d.1030?
Famous novelist
Shikubu was the daughter of a certain Fujiwara Tametoki and married
Fujiwara Nobutaka. Beyond educated conjecture, little is known of her
early years. Her husband's death in 1001 marks the first date in her life
history can assign with any certainty. She seems to have retired to her
home after Nobutaka's death and presumably began work on the her great
work, the 'Tale of Genji'. Around 1005 her father arranged for her to
become a lady-in-waiting to the consort of the Emperor Ichijô. Even here
the details of her life remain obscure, despite her diary.
We might assume that Shikibu accompanied the Empress of the late Ichijô
(who died in 1011) into the latter's retirement at a detached palace but
when she retired or died is unknown - she simply disappears from history
after about 1525. Despite this fact, her 'The Tale of Genji' (Genji
Monogatari) remains as one of the world's literary milestones - it is
believed to be the first example of what we today would describe as a
novel (or, strictly speaking, a psychological novel). Genji was also one
of the world's longest novels - at 630,000 or so words, it stands at twice
the length of 'War and Peace'.
The novel's scope is broad, occuring over the course of about seventy
years and involving some 430 characters. (For a detailed look at Murasaki
Shikibu, her novel, and times, see Morris: The World of the Shining
Prince').
Rai San'yô
1780-1832
Historian
San'yô was the son of Rai Shunsui, a historian and author of such works as
the Fushin-shi. San'yô, who was also something of a poet, produced the
Nihon Gaishi and Nihon Seiki. He was also notable for his sympathy for the
cause of Imperial Restoration, which did not occur for decades after his
death.
Satomura Jôha
1524-1602
Poet of linked verse
Jôha was the younger son of a temple servent at the Ichijôin in Nara who
died when Jôha was 12. After a period of monastic life, Jôha became a
priest though he elected to devote himself to poetry and traveled with
noted renga composer Shûkei to Kyoto in 1542.
He trained under Satomura Shôkyu and assumed the Satomura name after the
death of the latter in 1552 - as well as becoming a foster father to
Shôkyu's son Shôshitsu. As head of the Satomura school of renga, Jôha's
fame gradually increased and he gained as patrons both Miyoshi Chokei and
Matsunaga Hisahide and later became a teacher for Chokei's son Yoshioki.
He gained the favor of Oda Nobunaga in 1568 when the latter entered Kyoto
and over the next ten years composed verse with such great names as Akechi
Mitsuhide and Hosokawa Fujitaka. When Akechi killed Nobunaga in 1582, Jôha
managed to spirit the crown prince out of Nijô and harm's way - which held
him in good stead when Hideyoshi questioned him afterwards (he had been
involved in a provocative linked-verse session with Mitsuhide only days
before Nobunaga's death).
He became active in politics under Hideyoshi and a companion of Toyotomi
Hidetsugu - which led to his banishment to Miidera when Hidetsugu was
ordered to commit suicide in 1595. He was allowed to return to Kyoto in
the fall of 1596 and was soon forgiven by Hideyoshi.
While enjoying the reputation of being Japan's last true renga master and
a discerning critic, Jôha's reputation suffered from what some saw as
opportunism and ambition in his character. His most notable works included
the Renga shihôshô (Book of the Supreme Treasure of Renga) and his own
journal, which detailed a trip he took to view Mt. Fuji in 1567.
Sei Shônagon
c.968-c.1025
Famous author
Shônagon was the daughter of Kiyowara Motosuke and a maid of honor to the
consort of the Emperor Ichijô. A colorful figure, she produced the famous
'Pillow Book', or Makura no Sôshi, which provides the reader with an
insider's view of the going's-on of the Imperial Court as well as
Shônagon's opinions on such subjects as love, good looks, commoners and
gossip.
Written around 1002, the Pillow Book stands as the second of the two great
literary works of the day - next to Murasaki Shikibu's 'The Tale of Genji'.
Shônagon was known for her wit and openness on all matters, leading
Murasaki Shikibu to pen in her own diary, 'Sei Shônagon has the most
extraordinary air of self-satisfaction.'.
(TWSP, pg.263)
Sen no Rikyû
1522-1591
Master of the tea ceremony
Sen no Rikyû was a man of merchant background from Sakai and was known for
much of his career as Sôeki. His father was Sen (Tanaka) Yohyôe, himself
the son of a certain Sen'ami whom we are told fled Kyoto during the Ônin
war and took up in Sakai. Rikyû's first mention in surviving documents is
a listing (as 'Yashiro', which he was known as in his youth) as a
contributor to a Sakai temple in 1535 (AWC, pg. 211).
A practitioner of the tea ceremony from at least the age of fifteen, Rikyû
had been trained as a tea man in the elegant Ashikaga style. He would in
time reject this school in favor of a very different approach. The
nobility's tea ceremony had been developed to cater to the sorts of
individuals that partook of it, with elegant Chinese utensils and great
pains taken to avoid offending any guests of higher status. In his own
vision, Rikyû substituted the pricey utensils with simple, practical ones,
and replaced the expensive and often gaudy teahouses of the nobility with
the Sôan, or 'grass hut' style teahouse.
The only way into the tearoom of a Sôan was through a small door, the
nijiriguchi, which was only some two and a half feet square. Guests
therefore entered by crawling, a deliberately humbling device intended to
create a sense of equality once inside. Rikyû intended for the tea
ceremony to be an activity free from social and political trappings,
though in this he was to be ultimatly disappointed.
As Rikyû was making a name for himself, the warlord Oda Nobunaga was also
gaining fame through his steady expansion and at length came to meet Rikyû.
Rikyû's early connection with Nobunaga is uncertain, as are the specifics
of their relationship in general. However, it seems clear that Rikyû's
prestige grew over the roughly 14 years Nobunaga dominated Kyoto. His star
would contine to rise under the good graces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi after
Nobunaga's death in 1582; in fact, Rikyû was performing ceremonies at
Hideyoshi's behest at Yamazaki (the site of the latter's victory over
Nobunaga's destroyer) before the year was out.
It has been speculated that Rikyû and Hideyoshi had known one another
since the 1570's - yet even their later relationship is hazy. Clearly,
however, Hideyoshi - who used culture as a tool in the legitimization of
his rule - saw many uses for Rikyû. This is perhaps ironic - the warlord
who basked in the ostentatious - the teaman who stressed the humble. At
any rate, as Rikyû's prestige grew, so did his opportunities to throw his
voice into the political arena. The most obvious case in point may be the
visit of Kyushu daimyô Ôtomo Yoshishige (Sôrin) in 1586. Ôtomo had come
out of retirement to beg for Hideyoshi's assistance against the
encroaching Shimazu family. After the fact he would observe that Rikyû's
assistance was most vital for anyone hoping to have an audience with
Hideyoshi (AWC, pg.216). Rikyû's career seemed to be at its height when he
assisted Hideyoshi in a tea ceremony held for the emperor Ôgimachi in
1585. Two years later he accompanied Hideyoshi on the latter's invasion of
Kyushu; he would also entertain him during the 1590 Odawara Campaign. Yet,
in 1591, Hideyoshi suddenly ordered Rikyû placed under house arrest in
Sakai and was two weeks later made to commit suicide. This shocking turn
of events provides historians with one of the great mysteries of
Hideyoshi's later career. Various theories have been presented over the
years but none quite seem to satisfy. The official cause for Rikyû's fall
from favor and subsequent suicide concerns a gate to the Daitokuji in
Kyoto.
In 1589 Rikyû had donated money so that the gate (which had gone
uncompleted since the 1520's) could be finished and in tribute a statue of
Rikyu had been added at the top of the structure. Hideyoshi, then, was
infuriated at the notion of passing under the image of an inferior should
he enter the temple and thus brought his fury down on Rikyû.
In fact, Hideyoshi had the offending statue crucified along with ordering
Rikyû's suicide. Certain scholars have suggested that Rikyû had also
incurred Hideyoshi's displeasure in another way - that he was selling tea
utensils for a great profit, thus abusing his position (and the fact that
he could set the prices as he saw fit) (AWC, pg. 220).
An alternate theory has Rikyû caught in the midst of a struggle within the
Toyotomi ranks. This holds that Rikyû, who evidently favored a softer hand
in dealing with the daimyô and their rights, was executed to appease those
who took a harder line (such as Ishida Mitsunari).
At any rate, Rikyû's passing has been described as the end of an era - for
Japanese culture in general and the tea ceremony in particular. Rikyû
stands as one of the more complex and fascinating figures of Japan's 16th
Century, his fatal association with Hideyoshi somehow very appropriate and
in keeping with the nature of that colorful time.
Suzuki Harunobu
1725-1770
Woodblock artist
Harunobu was a noted painter in the ukiyo-e ('pictures of the floating
world') style and is thought to have been the first to produce a full
polychrome print. His trademark was his delicate depiction of his female
subjects.
Zeami
1363-1443
Pioneer of Nô drama
Zeami was the son of the playwright Kan'ami (1333-1384). In 1374 one of
Kan'ami's plays was preformed before the shôgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and
the latter was much taken by the young Zeami, an actor in the work.
Yoshimitsu arranged for Zeami to be placed in his custody and saw that the
young man received a strong education and cultural refinement.
Under the patronage of that great patron of the arts, Zeami flourished.
The leader of his own troupe, he developed many plays (though scant few
traces of his original work remain) and refined what would become known as
'classic' Nô drama.
Yet his later life was to be marred by misfortune. His two sons would
predecease him and after 1429 he suffered a troubled relationship with the
shôgunate. In that year Zeami and his son Motomasa (himself author of the
famous drama 'Sumida River' and others) were banned from entering the
shôgun's palace by Ashikaga Yoshinori and in 1434 Zeami was exiled to Sado
Island for reasons unknown. He returned to Kyoto around 1441 but died only
a few years later.
His heir would be a son-in-law named Komparu Zenchiku (1405-1468). Among
the many works attributed to Zeami are counted 'Atsumori', 'Hanjo', 'Izutsu',
and 'Yamamba'. Nô would remain a favorite of the upper-class into the Edo
Period, when it was to fall out of favor somewhat at the start of the 18th
Century.
Sources:
Berry, Mary Elizabeth. Hideyoshi Harvard University Press, 1982
Ellison, George and Bardwell L. Smith, eds. Warlords, Artists, and
Commoners The University Press of Hawaii, 1982
Hall, John Whitney and Toyoda Takeshi. Japan in the Muromachi Age
University of California Press, 1977
Kamo-no-Chomei Hojoki Stone Bridge Press, 1996
Morris, Ivan The World of the Shining Prince Peregrine 1969
Sansom, G. B. Japan. A Short Cultural History Tuttle 1973
Tsunoda, Ryusaku, Wm. Theodore De Bary, Donald Keene. Sources of Japanese
Tradition Columbia University Press, 1965
Tyler, Royall (ed.) Japanese Nô Dramas Penguin 1992
Note:
Word History: Stamp collectors know that Nihon and Nippon on Japanese
stamps mean “Japan” what they probably don't know is that Nihon, Nippon,
and Japan are all ultimately the same word. In the early part of the
Chinese Tang dynastyin A.D. 670, to be preciseJapanese scholars who had
studied Chinese created a new name for their country using the Chinese
phrase for “origin of the sun, sunrise,” because Japan is located east of
China. In the Chinese of the time (called Middle Chinese), the phrase was
nzyet-pwun. To this the scholars added the Chinese suffix -kwuk,
“country,” yielding a compound nzyet-pwun-kwuk, “sun-origin-country, land
of the rising sun.” The consonant clusters in the word were not
pronounceable in Old Japanese, so the form was simplified to Nip-pon-gu or
*Ni-pon-gu, the latter developing by regular sound change to Ni-hon-gu.
The forms Nippon and Nihon of today are the same as these, minus the
“country” suffix. Interestingly, the Chinese themselves took to calling
Japan by the name that the Japanese had invented, and it is from the
Chinese version of the name that English Japan is ultimately derived. In
Mandarin Chinese, one of the forms of Chinese to develop from Middle
Chinese, the phrase evolved to Rìbnguó, an early form of which was
recorded by Marco Polo as Chipangu, which he would have pronounced as (ch-pän-g)
or (sh-pän-g). The early Mandarin word was borrowed into Malay as Japang,
which was encountered by Portuguese traders in Moluccas in the 16th
century. These traders may have been the ones to bring the word to Europe;
it is first recorded in English in 1577, spelled Giapan. (Reference:
Dictionary.com)
Coming Up in The Next Issue: Ancient Japanese Swords of the 17th Century /
The Shogun Samurai Sword - The Heart of an Empire
Home |
Main Parts |
Classifications |
Making of the Blade |
Legends of Yamato Province |
Samurai Warriors in History |
Timeline |
Terminology
Copyright (c) 2011 - 2015