Washington Journal., 1942-05-22
SIDE G H OF HISTORY
Japanese Swords
By EDWIN EMERSON

charmed by a japanese sword, which Elk
Ambassador Sayres brought him when he
came back from the Philippines. 1t was
brought as a war trophy, having been found
on the body of a japanese officer, slain In
Luzon.
The tradition of Bushido, the Nipponese
code of chivalry, is such that this sword
scarcely could have been taken otherwise. A
Japanese, reared in the precepts of Bushido,
would be expected to commit hara-kiri rather
than surrender his sword. So, too, he would
be epected to take his own life, were his
sword struck from his hand in combat.
To understand the japanese feeling about
swords one must have entered into the spirit
of Old Japan, of its Code of Bushido, its
sword songs, it's tales of bloody %swordplay
and it's veneration for good swordsmiths and
for their masterpieces.
Before [ went to Japan, having fenced
with Solingen and Toledo foils and having
met redoubtable swordsmen at home and
abroad, | thought | knew something about
good blades, but in the Land of the Rising
Sun we soon learned that our western fencers
and swordsmiths were not in the same class
with those of Japan. Never before, nor since,
have | seen such nimble and effective sword
play as | saw on the fencing floors of Tokyo,
Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe and Nagasaki. Never
before, nor since, have / watched such furious
DaVOn0J FENCING DIS Uudl Ol JdpdleSC I6CIuJo
being drilled for active service.
While | knew, of course, that good Japa-
nese blades are exceedingly well tempered,
having heard tales Of their edges cutting
hairs and cobwebs, their superiority over
other swords was not revealed to me until
| saw blade meet blade in Japan.
A Demonstration
AT the Manchurian front during the Rus
s~ian-Japanese War an English speaking
japanese cavalry officer, who later served as
a military attache in Washington, voiced his
surprise to me that the Cossacks in Man
churia had not proved better warriors. In
particular. he said, he and his comrades had
expected them to be formidable swordsmen,
but, instead, had found them foes unworthy
Of the Japanese steel. AS for the shasha, the
curved Cossack saber, it could not compare
ir temper with a modern Japanese sidearm,
let alone an old Samurai blade. With his
katana, a family heirloom, he said, he had
cut in two a Cossack's shasha, vainly raised
in parry when steel met steel.
Maybe my eyebrows were raised III IN
credulous establishment. At all events the
Japanese officer exclaimed: "You shall see"
So he babe his orderly bring him a Cossack
saber from a pile Of war loot nearby. Then
he begged me to take the Russian saber III
my hand and to hold it in the position OF
parry, while he would deal its blade a blow
with his own Samurai sword. We stood up
against each other in fencers' attitudes and
| raised my weapon in position OF parry.
Hardly had my fingers closed on the hilt IN
firm grip, when my opponent s quick-hashing
sword cut through my blade about a foot
from my swords point, s%evering the narrow
foible from its wider forte. The keen edge
of the Samurai blade was not badly knicked.
It's blemished edge readily could be restored
by whetting.
Lieutenant Tanaka told me his katana
(private sword) had been handed down from
father to son in his family through several
centuries and he named its maker, an ancient
swordsmith Of Sendai, whose. name, alas, |
have forgotten, knowing little then OF famous
Japanese swordsmiths.
Such a katana. having a soul Of its own ac-
cording to Japanese belief, would be priceless,
of course. One might as well try to appraise
in money a ~pedigreed mare in Arabia, a
Velasouez painting in Spain or the script of
our forebears' Declaration of Independence,
now in the Library Of Congress.
Treasured Blades
Because ancient swords in Japan are re-
garded as having divine souls, many OF the
shrines throughout the land have been pre-
sented with wonderful blades, either welded
by celebrated heroes, or dedicated to their
memory. The Sword of Yamato, forged
more than a thousand years ago, is among
the Three Imperial Regalia of Nippon Ia
sword, a mirror and a crown jewell, which
devolve on every new Emperor at the cere-
mony Of his accession to the throne. That
| sword holds the highest rank Of all the I'M
| perial treasures. 1t is enshrined in a special
| room in the imperial palace as a talisman
for the protection Of the realm. At an i'm