Treasure of Japan

The Sword of the Samurai
nihonto

The samurai sword is the Japanese treasure. One reason for this is its use in the time of samurai warriors. Samurai employed a range of weapons such as bows and arrows, spears and guns; but their most famous weapon and their symbol was the sword. Not only were these weapons elegant and valuable they were also tools of death. They were
extremely sharp and strong and made for true killing machines. The nihontō was primarily a cutting weapon, or more specifically, a slicing one. However, the nihontō's moderate curve allows for effective thrusting as well.The legitimate Japanese sword is made from Japanese steel. The Japanese sword blade is formed from a combination of two different steels: a harder outer jacket steel wrapped around a relatively softer, inner core of steel. This creates a blade which has a unique hard, highly razor sharp cutting edge with an inner core which is resilient and able to absorb shocks in a way which reduces the possibility of the blade breaking or bending when used in combat.

These are the various parts of a sword.

Another reason for the sword being the treasure of japan is the effort and time it takes to forge one. The forging of a Japanese blade typically took hours, days, or even weeks and was considered a sacred art. As with many complex endeavors, rather than a single craftsman, several artists were involved. There was a smith to forge the rough shape, often a second smith (apprentice) to fold the metal, a specialist polisher (called a togi) as well as the various artisans that made the koshirae (the various fittings used to decorate the finished blade with carvings and other arts.