The Savannah morning news., 1903-03-28
JAPANESE SWORDS.
Etiquette and Weapons of the sn
mural.

mural.
From Japan and America.
In no other country has the sword
been so much honored and so beauti-
fully and finely made as in Japan. An
old poet called the sword the soul of
the Samu-rai, the fighting man of old
Nippon; and it's blade had to be kept
as free from strain as the heart of the
knight
There was sword etiquette the laws
of which must be known and obeyed
by all Samu-rai. There were times
and situations, according to recent
writer on the Japanese swords, that
demanded the long or short sword, and
gentlemen never made mistakes. If
an insult was intended, the followers
of a princely house did not bite the
thumb; they merely had to touch the
sword of an enemy or pay social call
and not remove the long sword. Equal
ly insulting was pretense at drawing
the sword, or to throw it upon the
matted floor, hilt to the foe Any of
these movements was equivalent to
throwing down the gantlet to one or
all present, which would invariably be
followed by sanguinary contest. On
the street, if two gentlemen passed
one another, then turned and clashed
their scabbards together, it was a
challenge. To handle a naked blade,
or exhibit it, was a gross insult; only
after the most urgent requests would
Japanese gentIeman exhibit his
blade, and then only with many and
profuse apologies
Etiquette was carried. even to the
handling of the sword. The guest re-
ceived it in a silk sword cloth-which
every sword wearer carried-holding
the hilt to the left and the point di-
rected at the owner of the sword.
Even if the blade was a famous one,
and being examined for its intrinsic
beauties, the apologies were profuse
and continued,
The swords of the Japanese may all
be considered works of art. but they
vary in point of beauty and decoration
as well as price, and those made by
famous artists brought large sums, 49,
600 often being paid for a perfect
sword not jeweled. When a number
of famous sword owners met. the
sword naturally became a subject OF
conversation, and numerous tests were
given by the skilled swordsmen of the
day. 1t is said. that on one occasion
1yeyasu, who was the author of a
voluminous work on sword etiquette
and. the owner of a fine sword. was
once travelling in the interior and
stopped at night at a little inn where
several other noblen1en We're resting
The subject of their swords were
touched upon, and from one word tc
another they We're led into a dispute
regarding the qualities of the blades
To settle it, they agreed upon several
tests. One of the strangers had long
attenuated blade which he drew care
fully from its sheath; then, barring his
ARM he held ia pillow, and with a
quick movement struck 1t, severing il
as though it were paper-an extraor-
binary feat. Iyeyasu did the same:
then. seeing a large cub bear he or
dered his men to throw it upward
They did so, and as it dropped he
| severed it. With a single blow in the
air, thus winning the contest. His
sword was made by the great artist
Maya Mitzu, A. y. 1879. and was
| named Arzuh-Naga Mitzu, this being
| its guarantee. that it could sever q
| bear at a single blow. Ff
| : The sword maker was a favored in
dividual-a man of wealth. He was
courted and .feted,s and when ehe haG
achieved great fame, he was 7ennobled
Always when forging a sword he was
| allowed to wear the garb of a noble
1 at a. certain period in The history o.
| the blade. At this tiTfG he retired from
public view ahd rcertafn mysteriou.
rites were performed that were sup.
posed to invest the sword with soecia,
| powers rs a.. @,' ~. 10
Ancient swords are those that ante.
date 1870: those following are known
as shinto, and, While many are re-
| tnarkably fine. they are not esteemed
las highly as the blades of 1000 or SOC
| years ago. In the old swords lightness
was feature. and some were so del
| icate that they could almost be bent
double One of the most famous MAX
ers of shinto swords was Horikawa
| Hunihiro, whor fieurished in 1900. An
other artist. Kore Hiro, who made
swords in 1880. left many famous ex-
amples of his art, several of which
may be seen in this country.