For two long weeks I've watched the blade take shape
though the work is even slower now.
Masamune san can only heat
one small section at a time.
A perfect sword is worth as much as $15,000.
But this is no place to make mistakes.
Only one in five swords is completely free of cracks or blemishes
and there's no way to tell until the work is done.
This much I have learned -
sword making is hard and grueling work
that's only bearable if you love the blade like life itself.
Though I'm told it doesn't hurt
to know a few tricks now and then.
If you heat a sword
and plunge it into cold water
it gets very hard.
But the exact temperature is critical
and was once so secret
that the punishment for trying to find out
was death.
The trick, Masamune tells me,
is to coat the entire blade with clay
so that it doesn't cool down too fast in the water bath
and stays a little flexible.
Masamune then scrapes the clay off the cutting edge
so that it gets as big a shock as possible
and becomes extremely hard.
Then Roberto shuts the forge up
and turns out the lights.
Masamune gauges the temperature of the fire
by the color of the flame.
He uses no thermometer.
If he makes a small miscalculation at this point
the sword will crack
and all his work will go to waste.
and the waiting list for a Masamune sword
is four years long.
So there's little time to celebrate -
the blade must go directly to a master polisher
who turns out to be his apprentice - Roberto.
With nothing but his eye to guide him
he will spend the next 8 days grinding the blade
using stones of increasing fineness
and water as a lubricant.
Tools that haven't changed for a thousand years.
Roberto is 26.
He left his home in Brazil 3 years ago
to dedicate his life to swords.
Unlike most sword makers, who tend to specialize
Roberto is learning how to forge AND polish.
He says he must know everything about the sword
in order to make them well.
But Roberto must do more than just learn the proper skills.
He must control his thoughts.
While his hands are busy polishing the blade's edge
his state of mind will shape the blades soul.
It's more than just a job.
It's a sacred responsibility.
Roberto speaks and writes Japanese
and will soon become a citizen.
He recently married the daughter of a famous sword polisher.
Every sword Roberto polishes
is inspected by his adopted father
Nakamura san.
He's 90 years old.
And a little hard of hearing.
To Nakamura san
the sword is a symbol of the Japanese spirit
and embodies all the virtues
that his countrymen should strive for.
Young people nowadays, he tells me,
no longer live the way of the sword.
They're corrupted and do too many American things.
They will come to no good.
Nakamura san is not an easy man to please.
Luckily he thinks Roberto is something of an exception.
Although he's a foreigner
Roberto understands the values of respect and loyalty.
Though he should get up earlier and study more.
Nakamura san used to train for hours every day.
He still goes on occasion to practice the Iaido -
cutting techniques.
During feudal times new swords were often tested
on the bodies of criminals.
The torso cut.
And then it's Roberto's turn.
He is living The Way of The Warrior.
Perfecting his skill at the sword
and pledging absolute obedience
to his superiors.
Though Roberto may not realize it
he's doing the impossible -
he's becoming Japanese.
But even for Roberto success is far from guaranteed.
In two years he will test
to become a licensed sword maker.
He will do it after only five years of apprenticeship
not the usual ten.
That's an extraordinary achievement.
But if he succeeds he will create a dilemma
that the country's traditional sword making society
has never had to face.
Masamune's family
have been sword makers for 24 generations.
But his only son wants to be an opera singer.
He must choose one of his apprentices
to be the 25th in line.
The problem is
the best one by far
isn't Japanese.