And now for something completely different.
I have a guest host for you today.
He’s another YouTuber, his name is Epimetheus and he’ll be spitting facts about Japanese
swords at you so get ready.
This video is one half of a pair of videos about Japanese swords and shields.
After this one, you can go on to watch the other.
But before that, click the sub--
aaaah!
The samurai were the aristocratic warrior class of feudal Japan, often compared to the
Knights of medieval Europe.
The samurai carried the katana, a two-handed single edged sword with a slightly curved
blade.
When a new member of Japan's hereditary warrior class was born, a sword was placed in the
room.
Whether the warrior died on the battlefield, of disease, or old age, his
sword was near at hand.
Dressed in full armor or wearing civilian clothing, the
katana was worn at all times.
No edged weapon in history has been more closely associated with its owner than the katana
and the samurai.
As well as a weapon, the katana was a symbol of the samurai's authority and privileged
class.
The Japanese katana is considered by many to be the finest class of sword ever made.
Unlike the spork or Rubik's Cube the katana was not the brainchild
of a genius blacksmith or inventor but developed over many centuries.
The earliest predecessor of the katana was a chokuto straight sword, which were first
forged in the 3rd century AD and were heavily influenced by the Chinese and
Korean swords of that time in their design and construction.
The chokuto was a one-handed sword that excelled at slashing, chopping, and stabbing.
Like later Japanese swords, these early weapons had a single sharp edge.
Although double-edged swords did exist, they were less popular.
During the 9th century, Japan went through radical changes after the capital city was
moved to the north.
The land endured a devastating plague where as much as half the country's population died.
And as the power of the Emperor eroded, local lords became the de facto independent rulers
of their own territory.
The lords began to maintain larger and larger private armies of professional soldiers bound
by loyalty to them.
These were the early samurai.
During this time the Japanese sword went through radical changes as well.
The straight one-handed chokuto was widely replaced by the two-handed curved tachi.
Typically longer than the katana, it possessed one of the great innovations characteristic
of all later great samurai swords:
differential hardening.
This technique solved the problem of choosing between a sword that was too hard and brittle
which might cause it to break on the battlefield, or a blade that was too soft and not able
to hold a sharp edge very well.
Through this complicated process, the sharp cutting side of the blade was made significantly
harder than the soft back section of the blade.
This produced a sword that had an extremely hard and sharp cutting edge and was able to
absorb a large amount of shock, which enabled the bearer to efficiently use the flexible
yet robust blade offensively as well as defensively.
Early versions of this sword had an extreme curve starting
at the hilt.
This was made more subtle over the centuries.
The evolution from the tachi to the katana was also extremely subtle.
The most significant change was not in construction or design, but in the way the katana was worn
and used.
Instead of being strung from the side of the samurai's belt with a cutting edge facing
down like the tachi, the typically shorter katana was simply thrust into the belt with
the cutting edge facing up.
It is important to note neither the tachi or katana was the samurai's primary weapon
on the battlefield, but rather a backup weapon.
The samurai's typical role was that of a mounted archer or when going into battle on foot,
some sort of polearm was used.
And the sword was typically used as a weapon of last resort when the samurai had been dismounted
or his polearm broken.
As you might imagine in these dire circumstances there is a definite premium on being able
to draw your sword quickly and strike.
With the tachi,
this had to be done in two movements but with the katana it could be done in one fluid motion.
Some historians have also proposed that with increased frequency in siege warfare in Japanese
history, many samurai found through trial and error the value of using the shorter quicker
katana over the larger tachi
when battling in the confined spaces of a castle's corridors.
This is evidenced by the
large number of tachi that were reduced in size and then used as katana.
Both tachi and katana were used contemporaneously for centuries.
The tachi stood in vogue until the 15th century and was gradually overtaken by the
katana in popularity.
As some tachi and katana may appear to be nearly identical, the delineating factor between
the two is often considered to be where the maker's signature is placed, which can be
seen on opposite sides of the tang of the blade if the handle is removed.
This has been Epimetheus and I hope you have enjoyed this brief overview of the samurai
sword.
Alright, thank you so much Epimetheus.
Now you sitting there, you’re not done yet.
Like how fries go with burgers, this video also has a delicious pairing.
It goes together very well with a video that I just made on Epimetheus’s channel, about
Why Didn’t the Japanese Use Shields?
You had your burger, now stuff some fries in your cute face.
Click here to see it.
And while you’re there, check out Epimetheus’s excellent channel about history on all kinds
of stuff.
I’ve been a subscriber of his for a long time.
Okay, I wanna thank the new patrons this week, Shuten Douji, I have a video about you, Henry,
just Henry, Shear Luck, and Skipadoo, I kinda love that name.
Alright much love to you, and spread the knowledge.