The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1910-11-01
SWORDS OF JAPAN
Old Samurai Blades Are Looked
Upon as Sacred.
HANDLED WITH REVERENCE.
q Curious Formula of Etiquette Fol-
lows When THE Steel Bible Of
HushidO" Is Drawn From its Sheath
BY Hand Which crasps It in Peace.

bu6hido" rs Drawn from ITS oheatn
BY . Hand Which Grasps It In Peace.
II Que were in . friends house Ia
Japan and should ask TO examine one
Of the old satnura swords that rest in
the lacQuered sword rack IN a place
OF honor there curious formula Of
etiquette would DO followed by the
host.
He would 20 10 closet aud return
with a little square Of silk in his hand
This he would wrap about The shark
skin haDdle or the sheathed sword be
fore touching bis bare hand TO tbe
sheath. Then. with his right hand
grasping the silk covered handle and
the fingers OF his left gingerly raising
the lacquered hilt from the rack, the
Japanese host would lift the sword 70
the level OF his forehead and bow to il.
AlIfhis in reverential spirit and with
0tmosa gravity. Che square OF silk.
preserved for no purpose but this and
having its own name III the Japanese
vocabulary. is 20 prevent the deiile-
meDt of the handle by hand which
gfasps IL In peace. The bow is meant
for the spirit or the swordsmitb who
forged this weapon. The reverence IS
for the sword itself. soul of the sa-
mural IN the Japanese poet1cal con
ceDtion and aptly called by foreigners
the steel Bible of Bushido."
But this is only the beginning or the
formaIity. When the Japanese host
unsheaths the blade he does it with
the edge toward his own body and the
point directed away from his guest
When the guest receives the sword Ia
bis own hands he must be careful 10
keep the outer edge always away from
the direction OF his friend the host
\ lf be wishes To examine both sides Of
The blade he must even turn his back
50 that never will the menace OF the
sharpened edge be directed toward his
friend
After che examination is completed
the sword is returned to its scabbard
and the owner receives it with an
other bow and places it once more on
its rack
The etiquette Of the sword is no
empty thing. With the high spirited
Japanese. Who have not forgotten the
many centuries OF chigalry and Of
hand lighting behind them. the deli
eascEy curved ana curiously welded
sword OF the salnurai has o signii
canoe almost sacred. There is a phi.
iosophy OF the sworn no less stern
than the use OF the weapon,
/ In the old days when the Japanese
4 lighters wore the war masks and the
steel ar1nor seen nowadays in the
curiosity shops the boy was taught
that as the shining blade must be kept
/ free from spot and corruption, so must
his soul be ever clean. Neglect Of the
blade brings rust; neglect of the soul
an impure character
Then the sharp edge was held mol
4 only as D constant guardian OF per
sonal safety and honor, but as a sacred
\ disciplinarian 10 punish whenever its
+ possessor stepped from the narrow
/ path Of the Yamato sspirit OF chivalry-
Again, the sword was eniblematical
! or true geutllty, which is never over
bearing Oh vulgar. in department, but
sterny self repressiYe.
No man Knows when first tie forge
for fighting weapons was set up in the
dawn Of japanese history nor who
was the man who FIRST replaced the
rude bronze blades of u primitive folk
I by the tempered steel Of the Yamato
blade. There is in the imperial collec.
tion Of swords at the castle of Nara
/ the weapon worn by the Grown Prince
Shotokn, who compiled the constitu-
ton OF seventeen articles III A. d. 693,
the Oldest sword known IN Japan From
that weapon. which was straight and
4 not curved as all other swords or Nip
pom are, down TO the fall OF the Toku
gawa shogunate III The middle Of the
/ last century there is an unbroGen his
tory OF the art OF the swCrdsmifh
/ Twelve centuries of recorded art IN
swordmaking aud the names of over
I 10000 makes constitute the history of
the sword in Japan.
( The japanese blade. placed almost
on par with the Damascus product
il art and utility, differs from rbe
Arabian weapon 10 one material detail
Of manufacture. Instead Of having
uniform high temper which gives tbe
remarkable fleMbility possessed by the
Damascus blade. The Japanese sword
has two tempers, hard and mild
steel.
The edge OF the blade Is hard With
The finest temper. the body and back
Of milder temper. sufficient to give
some elasticity. japanese sword
cannot be bent bali double with the
/ pressure OF hand; hand; St Is nearly rigid
Though SWORD manufacture has eeas
ed to be IN Japan today outside Of the
government aEsenals. which turn out
only fbe accepted military blade of iDe
modern army. the country is filied with
priced relies Of The past art. and these
are relics which the japanese viii not
sell. A possessor Of one Or the old
swords. keen aud blue white in lnster
as fhe day il was forged. would sell
bis house. even himself maybe before
be would nart with bis iron Bible Of