In the history of Japan, there was a legend from the smiths of Yamato Province. The legend was about that the smith Amakumi in Yamato about A. D. 700 who made the first samurai sword. It all began when Amakumi and his son gathered and examined the sword remnants after they found that nearly half of the returning soldiers from the war were carrying broken swords that they made. Upon seeing the sword remnants, Amakumi made a vow to himself that, “If they are going to use our swords for such slashing, I shall make one which will not break.” Amayumi was full of conviction and determination to fulfill the vow he made to himself. He and his son prayed for seven days and nights to the Shinto gods. Amakumi went on to select the best sand ore he could ever find and refined it. They worked hard and tried to improve of making better swords. Later, the father and son smiths ended with a single-bladed sword, which had curvature. Finally, the tandem continued with their work and made many improved types of swords. After the other war during the spring, all the returning soldiers were carrying the swords in perfect condition.
There are mainly four categories of samurai swords as weapons. All of which are made of steel, single bladed, curved, and tempered. The history of samurai swords are divided into four periods:
Ancient sword (Chokuto or Ken) Period (until A. D. 900)
Ancient swords at this period were chiefly made by the smiths from China or Korea or by the early Japanese smiths during this period. The swords were made of steel and mostly were straight (chokuto) type. The imitation of Chinese sword was gradually developed into the typical samurai sword. Top officials usually carried expensive
swords made in China.
Old sword (Koto) period (900 ~ 1530)
Power was only achieved by means of warfare during this time. As a result, the sword became an everyday weapon and was carried constantly by the samurai. The swords with the cutting edge of more than 4 feet were often used. It was at this period that the straight sword for stabbing was replaced by a single-bladed sword with curvature. During the year 900, the smith Yasutsuna in Hoki began forging excellent samurai swords. The most famous swords’ smiths appeared in Japanese history during the years 900 to 1450. The year 1467 saw swords being mass produced to meet the increasing demands for swords. It then resulted to a lower quality of swords thus only few swords can be considered of good quality for fighting.
New sword (Shinto) period
The end of the long civil war caused the sword to lose its functional value. The length of the long sword (daito) was shortened, the cutting edged being reduced to about 2 feet, and the samurai began carrying it by inserting it between the hip and the sash. The smiths engraved extravagant of flowers, shrubbery, and dragons on the swords, instead of the simple Sanskrit characters or grooves of older swords. Besides, pictures of maple leaves, cherry blossoms, chrysanthemums, or Mount Fuji could be found in the tempered lines of the swords. More than half of the samurai swords in today were made during this period.
Modern (Shin-shinto) period
The feudal system and the prestige of the samurai came to an end during the modern period. Swords could no longer be worn. The smiths of swords then lost their trade and turned to make hoes, scissors, and knives for their livelihood. A majority of the swords and its ornaments were exported to Europe and United States. Many books about the swords and its ornaments were published. Since 1926 until now, there has not been a single great smith of sword. A stamp of a cherry blossom with the character for Sho (1/8″ diameter) could be found above the signature of the smith on the tang of many blades. Many swords like police and parade sabers, which were manufactured during the last forty-year cannot be considered samurai swords because of the plating and methods of forging contrary to the conventional methods of hand-forging and tempering of samurai swords.