Samurai Sword Basics, A Brief History

04.17.08 |

Capturing the spirit of old Japan and recognised by its deadly
curvature, the samurai sword is widely recognised throughout the
world as the most deadly of all Japanese weaponry. Although
gaining modern fame and notoriety in modern epic cinema in such
films as The Last Samurai and the Kill Bill series by Quentin
Tarantino, samurai swords have long being an iconic symbol of
Japan and its history.

The most famous samurai sword, the Katana, is curved and bladed
only on one side - if you have seen Kill Bill, you will know
exactly what I’m talking about. The Katana was developed in the
10th century to enable Japanese calvery to carry out surprise
attacks on their enemy and was worn hung from the belt with the
cutting edge faced upwards.

The craft of forging katana samurai swords peaked during 1190 -
1337 - many of the swords from this area we’re assigned national
treasures. Thousands of swords are still circulated and
collected from more recent times; the most popular ‘collection’
era’s being WW1 and WW2. eBay is a great place to find both old
and new samurai swords, but beware of what you’re buying - a lot
of swords sold today are machine replicas and only fit for
display purposes.

There were however many types of samurai swords and the other
often mentioned includes shorter swords, one being the wakizashi
(shoto) and the tanto knife. Only the samurai were allowed to
carry these as a pair.