Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-01
SWORDMAKING IN JAPAN
WORK THERE NO ORDINARY Eff
FORT OF THE ARTISAN.
Superstition Surrounding n Businesf
complete Unless He Offers Prayer.
From the New York Evening Post.

| From the New York Evening Post
| Twelve centuries of swordmaking in ia
| pan have surrounded the blade with all
| manner of legends and customs and con-
| ventions. The long-range rifle is the weapon
| of the army now, but the making of swords
| still absorbs the interest of Japanese con-
| noisseurs. The government still fosters the
| art to which emperors and princes have
| not disdained to serve an apprenticeship.
The etiquette Of swords is observed in
! Japan today very much as it has been OBJ
served for centuries. To draw a sword
| from its scabbard without permission Is as
| insulting to its owner as to open his let
tiers. Blades that bear the dates of the
| eighth and ninth centuries are as good now
| as when they were forged without a nick
| or spot of rust. The sword is always
withdrawn very slowly, the scabbard held
horizontally and the blade resting on its
back as it slides out.
Lest the faintest breath should reach the
Steel the connoisseur, when he shows a
valuable sword. and the guest to whom he
shows it. wear shields of paper over the
handled with silk. To touch it with the
bare hand is an affront to its owner. eli
matte changes are carefully guarded
against.
Prepared by Prayer.
Capt. Zalinski, who was in Japan at the
see how they were made and by the en-
peror's permission induced the imperial in
structor in sword making in the school of
fine arts in Toxic to give a demonstration
of his work. The swordsmith prepared for
work by prayer and penance. fasting and
cold additions; religious articles were plac-
ed about in the forge room; little wisps OF
straw were stuck here and there and fold
ed papers hung over the forge.
Unless he offered prayer while he worked
It, was explained, the art was not thought
to be complete. 1t was on the principle
that bad man made a bad sword and
only good man, throwing his heart and
soul into it, could make a good sword.
Each family of swordsmiths has its own
secrets. which it guards jealousy, the spe-
cial characteristics of their swords remain
ing the same century after century.
The swordmaker took two pieces of steel.
one of which was chilled in water and
broken He chose for his sword the pieces
that looked well at the break and welded
Them folding them over fifteen times or
more. Four such bars were made and
combined, sometimes being plunged into
water, but more often cooled in straw
ashes He would hammer the bar out Icing
and bend it double, hammer it broad and
fiat and fold it down the middle.
Made 100000 Layers.
Some swordsmakers, the captain was told,
folded their bars diagOnally. When all was
finished the forger had made some 100000
fine layers. 1t was this that gave the
sword its ''hada," or skin an almost i'm
perceptble granular appearance running
lengthwise or sidewise or diasonally, &C
cording to the method of folding. Some of
the swords, by peculiar treatment, turned
out pure and sheer and showing no Such
81 ain.
With a drawknife the swordmaker shaped
his hot steel and began the tempcring, with
accompaniment Of prayers and much reli-
cir
darkened to make 1t easier to judge the
right glow of the steel on the forge. The
blade was covered with loan or clay from
one to three teenthS of an inch thick,
and narrow strip was scraped bare at the
cutting edge. Various smiths, with varied
fancies, scrape it off with straight or dem
tated or wavy lines, and the pattern al
ways remains after the tempering Is over.
The blade was heated with great care,
that it should have just the right cherry
glow, and plunged into the bath. Here,
too, the fancy of the traditions or the max
er's family dictate different methods. Some
plunge the sword in perpendicularly, some
horizontally, with the blade downward. The
blade was kept in constant motion. The
part that had been covered with loam was
very soft when the steel had cooled. The
part that had been scraped bare was very
hard. The curve Of the finished blade was
a marvel of accuracy.
Disdain n Signature.
The finished sword is usually engraved
with the makers signature, but the best
smiths are so proud of their work, and 1t
has to the expert so much individuality that
they disdain any signature. The sword is
finished on a milestone by careful and te-
dious rubbing. and is polished with fine
stone and rice powder. Some ancient rule
of the art has fixed upon winter as the best
season for polishing a sword.
To be really valuable and worthy Of
place in a nobleman's collection the blade
no cd at IN
more men at a single blow.
There are other tests, such as cutting
coins, hairs and leaves, but these minor
forms like most of the other details of
swordmaking are often hereditary, and the
maker tries his blade on exactly the same
objects and with the same ceremonies that
were used by his great-grandfather and his
ancestors before him.
large number of the swords bought by
strangers in Japan and taken home to be
displayed with much pride and circumstan-
tial relation of swordmaking legends are
gross frauds The sword that Is really
valuable should have fastened to the heft
by a wax seal the linen tag of the imperial
Inspector, certifying to its date, it's maker
and its test.
Is Considered Gem.
Judging blade is as much an art as is
the judging of porcelain or gems. The
greater the contrast between the blue
Of the soft steel and the white of the
tempered eOge the better tne Diade
The line between the two colors should not
be too fine. On the side of the blade are
usually paler spots shaped like little clouds,
and placed symmetrically at intervals of a
few inches. These are the "inoy" adding
much to the value and beauty of the sword
and made by trick of tempering
Captain Zalinski found that Toledo blades,
as far as the secret of their manufacture
could be learned, were made by almost the
same method used by the japanese. He
broke an old Toledo and putting the frac-
ture under a microscope found it's texture
apparently the same as that of the japanese
sword.
A Famous Lighthouse.
From the Chautauqran