this is the journey of a sword known as the katana it is the most dangerous and
fearsome sword on this planet according to legends unlike other swords the katana
is a living being with a soul and spirits katanas eat fire coals and drink human blood
katanas always need more blood it is also believed that some cursed katanas are able to
control their wielders leading to uncontrollable bloodlust this sword is extremely sharp and
when combined with formidable strength it can split a man from throat to chest they
are widely used for stabbing close quarters combat and sebuku a form of ritual suicide
i am samurai
i will sacrifice everything for my home
so what is the story of katana
katana is a japanese word that means long sword it is also known as the samurai sword the katana is a
blade with a little curve a single edge and a very sharp point it originated before the 10th century
the swordsmith amakuni is considered to be the father of the katana
when he developed it for the emperor during a period of war katanas weren't just weapons
they were also a symbol of honor which were given by feudal lords to samurai warriors
according to custom the katana must be worn on the left side when used correctly it allows you
to split a single human hair in one fell swoop when not in use these swords were respected
and kept on a sword stand called a katana kake in the 11th century its popularity expanded to
neighboring asian countries which resulted in them being heavily exported to china
in the ancient era of japan there were a lot of swordsmans who were producing katanas of
various qualities but some swords were made with great passions and were extremely high quality
however many swords were of average or poor quality as well during the edo period to ensure
high quality katanas had to pass an official sword testing department set up by the government
a master swordsman would chest a blade by slicing through the bodies of executed
and possibly live criminals piled on top of each other a katana with better slicing
performance received government recognition and brought a lot of wealth to blacksmiths
how were these incredible swords made well the job of japanese swordsmiths was incredibly complicated
in fact they were less like sword smiths and more like metal alchemists
a traditional japanese sword could take more than 18 months to make these deadly weapons
are born in the hellfires of traditional japanese furnaces which are known as tatara
katana swords needed to be made of pure steel with low level of impurities and oxidation
hence the raw steel was heated to a thousand degrees celsius for more than 75
hours with tons of iron sand and charcoals due to the continuous heat of a thousand degrees celsius
all the impurities sank to the bottom of tatara furnace in addition the charcoals helped prevent
oxidation and made carbonized steel this carbonized steel was very important for
the next part of the process the next step is forging a katana from carbonized steel
the best pieces used to be wrapped in cloth then covered in clay and ash to prevent oxidation
eventually they would go for reheating at 1 300 degrees with red hot flames when it was hot enough
a blacksmith would hit the hot mass continuously before the temperature dropped the continuous
hammer was a good thing because it further reduced the impurities and caused homogeneous distribution
of carbon the mass was reheated and folded 12 times and as a result metal skins would
appear on the edge there could be anywhere up to 5 000 layers for every centimeter of steel
through this process a very low carbon content less than 0.7 percent could be achieved which
gave flexibility to the sword the katana had to go through a third phase which was hardening the
blade's edge while maintaining spine flexibility this was done by applying a thick mixture of clay
sand and ash over the spine as for the blade a mixture of coal dust was spread much thinner
after the heating and cooling process the katana achieved both a hard edge and a flexible spine
but without the final phase a katana had no sharp teeth it needs polishing the polishers
use various stones of different grits to polish different areas of the new shiny katana
it was very important for katana wielders to do regular practice and become one with their sword
being one with the sword was the ultimate goal and it needed years of practice and a fearless
mind during wars a fear of death overthinking and seeing the blood of comrades may paralyze the body
of a warrior which was dangerous during battle in these situations the enemy may take advantage of
this paralysis to avoid this unfortunate situation samurais used to do zen meditation to train their
mind too zen meditation was also very helpful for warriors who were ordered to go on suicidal
missions in zen philosophy the empty mind is a free mind a warrior should not let doubt or
fear get in the way and complete the task at hand with the least amount of analysis and reflection
victory and defeat are two sides of the same coin with the control of the katana the human body and
the human mind the samurai became the most fearsome warrior in the ancient era of japan
meet isau machi who is currently the world's fastest samurai alive
and hold several guinness world records in 2007 he accomplished a record for the fastest 1 000
sword cuts he sliced to teeny rules which are similar to a human limb in less than 37 minutes
isa machi has excellent control over the speed and strength of his katana in another stun he was able
to slice a tennis ball in half which was traveling at a speed of 500 kilometers per hour or 310 miles
per hour in the right hands a katana can cut an incoming bullet from a gun or an arrow from a bow
given its long history and high quality it is no surprise that a lot of wealthy
japanese people own katanas even today they are still considered a symbol of honor and pride
when you want to buy a good quality katana it may cost between 4 000 and thirty thousand
dollars and if you think that's too costly then you'll be surprised to hear that a
kamakura blade from the 13th century was recently sold for 418 thousand dollars
but perhaps it's not that crazy because according to legends a well-crafted
japanese sword could dispel evil in a symbol of purity and can be worn to fend off evil spirits
this living sword has seen a lot of wars over the past 1 000 years the spirit of the katana
was alive in world war ii and experienced good and bad memories during the war japanese officers were
required to wear a sword as a last resort however the majority of those swords were not pure katanas
instead they were made using modern steel in japanese factories during the war katanas were
used to execute prisoners who were caught as a spy or intruder from the u.s and allied forces
at that time executing a prisoner with a katana sword was supposed to be the most humane way to
kill a prisoner however on the other hand some reports suggest that many high-ranking japanese
officers committed the suicide ritual subuku when they heard japan was defeated after the allied
victory the american occupation force completely banned the manufacturing and possession of swords
until 1953 in addition many american soldiers took katanas back home with them to the united states
by the 1960s the katana was nearly extinct due to rapid westernization hence the japanese government
established the society for the preservation of the japanese sword in order to protect the
katana and many more traditional japanese weapons today even after globalization the
spirit of the katana is still watching us its spirit constantly tempting people to hold it
foreign