Does anyone want to help me with an interview?

[Red Ink]

I'm doing a school project and need to have an interview. If you would be so kind, I'd like to ask some questions on this forum. Is that ok?

[Prince Loeffler]

Originally Posted by Red Ink

I'm doing a school project and need to have an interview. If you would be so kind, I'd like to ask some questions on this forum. Is that ok?

Go ahead and Make their day !

[Red Ink]

The japanese sword was typically made of tamahagane, correct? How does it differ from iron, if at all?

[Brian Owens]

Originally Posted by Red Ink

The japanese sword was typically made of tamahagane, correct? How does it differ from iron, if at all?

Tamahagane is steel (steel being an alloy of iron, carbon, and other elements).

Specifically the term is used for steel that was made by smelting iron ore -- often in the form of a black sand, called satetsu -- together with charcoal in a smelter called a tatara.

The design of the tatara was such that the levels of oxygen, carbon, carbon dioxide, etc. produced a steel that was as close to perfect for sword forging as could be achieved at the time.

Pure iron (the element Fe) would be too soft to hold a good edge. As iron ore (iron oxide -- Fe2 O3) is smelted, oxygen is removed and carbon added, creating steel. As carbon content increases the steel becomes harder. But too much carbon results in a steel that is too brittle.

In the tatara, impurities in the iron ore melt off as slag, and are removed; but rather than producing pure iron, as some types of smelters do, in the tatara the iron combines with carbon from the burning charcoal to produce fragments of steel, different fragments having different carbon percentages.

The sword smith can then take the sorted tamahagane and combine the different types in the ratios he deems ideal for his purpose, and then in his own forge and at the anvil, heat and hammer the fragments into blocks of sword steel. This process is called tsumiwakashi.

Some swords were made of only one type of steel, and then heat treated in such a way as to change the composition of different sections of the blade. Others were made by using different steels for different parts of the blade, and making various types of "sandwiched" constructions of the different types -- a process known as kobusegitae.

In kobuse forging, the smith will select from steels known by such names as hagane (edge steel), shingane (core steel), and kawagane (jacket steel), although not all forms use all types.

This is probably more information than you wanted, but I hope it is helpful.

[urbalte]

Definately more than I thought I eer knew, but still interesting none the less. Thanks fo rthe info, Brian. Love your posts, BTW.

[Brian Owens]

Thank you.

My work hours are such that my off hours allow lots of time for reading and other solo pursuits. While other members, like Dan Harden and Keith Larman, are actually out there making swords and fittings, I just read and write about them -- standing on other's shoulders, as it were.

'twill have to suffice for now.

[Red Ink]

Thanks, that's fine. Alright, on to the next one. How do blades typically differ in curvature and shape?

[pgsmith]

Hi Nicholas,
For lots of information on Japanese swords, read Rich Stein's extremely informative Japanese Sword Guide here ... http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/nihonto.htm
Lots of what you are looking for can be found on the following pages ...
http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/glossary.htm
http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/terms/terms.htm
http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/niku.htm

Here's the quick answer ...
First, I'll touch on curvature. This is primarily decided by the maker. While there have been "trends", it is mostly a matter of what the maker feels like doing, and how the steel reacts to the quench. In older feudal times when tachi were in use (sword hung cutting side down from hangers), they tended to have a bit more curvature to them. Swords have tended to have less curvature over the last hundred years or so due to the influence of iaido. It is easier to learn proper nukitsuke (draw and cut) and noto (resheathing) with a sword with less curvature. Once you've learned though, it doesn't really make much difference.

Next I'll hit on blade shapes. There are not many different blade shapes for the Japanese sword.
Shinogi zukuri is by far the most common. It has a distinct shinogi (ridgeline) that separates the curvature of the cutting edge from the burnished flat area leading up to the mune (spine). It also has a distinct demarcation called the yokote, between the main body of the sword and the kissaki (tip).
Shobu zukuri is not uncommon in daito (long swords over two feet). It has no yokote, and the shinogi extends right out to the kissaki.
Hira zukuri is very uncommon in daito, but is seen quite a bit in tanto (less than one foot blade length) and occassionally in wakizashi (one foot to two feet blade length). Hira zukuri shape has no shinogi, and there is a pretty straight line from the mune to the ha (cutting edge).
Unikobi zukuri can be occassionally found in both daito and wakizashi lengths. This is where the kissaki curves up to be higher than the mune of the blade. These are almost always from naginata (halberd) blades that have been cut down to sword size. Unikobi zukuri is a pretty much standard shape for naginata blades.

[Brian Owens]

If I may add to Paul's excellent post:

The blade's curvature is called sori, and the depth of the sori and where on the blade the greatest amount of the curve occurs is one of the main distiguishing characteristics of a sword. Different smiths, or schools of smiths, and different eras in sword smithing, tended to favor one type over another, so this can be helpful in determining the provenance of an antique blade.

The depth of sori is measured from the lowest point on the curve to an imaginary line drawn from the munemachi to the kissaki -- the same imaginary line that defines the nagasa, or length, of a blade.

If the deepest part of the curve occurs near the middle of the blade, it is called toriizori (torii sori) because it resembles the curved top-piece of the torii gates at a Shinto shrine.

Katana most often have toriizori.

If the deepest part of the curve occurs in the bottom third of the blade, it is called koshizori (waist curve).

If the deepest part of the curve occurs in the upper third of the blade, it is called sakizori (upper curve).

Many swords from the Muromachi period had sakizori.

A straight blade is said to be muzori (no curve). Some katana were muzori, and this type is the prototypical sword of the ninja of popular myth. But there were also very old tachi made without curvature, which were a symbol of the nobility.

The double-edged ken -- the oldest type of Japanese sword -- is also muzori.

Purhaps the rarest type is the uchizori (inside curve). In this form, the back of the blade curves downward, rather than upward, resulting in an edge that is usually fairly straight; but if the degree of curvature is large, then the edge, too, will have a "reverse curve." Other than in myth and in anime, this type is often thought not to exist, but I know of at least one example of a very old sword, probably ceremonial in nature, that is enshrined in a Shinto shrine in Japan. (The name escapes me at the moment, and I'm at work, without my reference materials.)

Another aspect of blade shape is the style of back, or ridge, called the mune.

In Shinto, Shinshinto, and Gendaito blades, the most common type is the two-surfaced iorimune (roof-shaped back).

If one were to flatten part of the ridge of an iorimune so that there were now three surfaces, one would have an example of mitsumune. Swords of the Soshu-den are among those using mitsumune.

One rarely seen style is the rounded mune called, plainly enough, marumune (round back).

The next component of shape is the type of side ridge -- the shinogi.

I'll give someone else a turn at that one.

[Red Ink]

Alright, what about the shinogi?

[SLeclair]

Originally Posted by Red Ink

I'm doing a school project and need to have an interview.

Is it just me or does this "interview" sound more like people from the forum doing your homework?

I'm all for providing links to help you research (and there were some good ones provided), but I feel the research itself should be done by the person wanting the information, especially in an academical setting. For example, you ask about the shinogi, yet the links provided earlier do contain information about it. A google search would not be amiss either.

But maybe I'm just cranky, so please don't mind me.

[Red Ink]

No, this is for my grad project. They said I could interview a forum if I wasn't able to find someone locally. A loophole of sorts. That's all.

[pgsmith]

No, this is for my grad project. They said I could interview a forum if I wasn't able to find someone locally. A loophole of sorts. That's all.

However, it is fairly obvious from your last question that you didn't bother to read the information that I provided links for. Also, despite the fact that some very knowledgeable people have taken the time to give you good information, your only expression of gratitude was one quick "thanks" as you asked your next question. So, these facts being evident, why should we waste any more time trying to help you out? You answer a question for a change!

[Brian Owens]

Originally Posted by pgsmith

However, it is fairly obvious from your last question that you didn't bother to read the information that I provided links for.

Sorry, Paul, but I think you're missing the point.

His assignment, according to him, wasn't to do a research paper on swords, it was to interview someone about something. Providing a link isn't the same as answering the question; it's like Barbara Walters asking Bill Gates what his plans are for the next decade, and Bill saying, "Barbara, go read PC World magazine."

I'm happy to answer the questions, and I'd say, "Let's take it to Private Messaging" except that if I say something really stupid I want others to jump in and correct me.

So, Red Ink, I'll try to add more later, about shinogi, but I'm heading to work now. Give me a day or so if no one else chimes in first.

[Red Ink]

Thank you, and sorry if I sounded ingrateful. It was a quick thank you because I was kind of busy at the time.