Japanese Sword:

History
Art
Science
Imperial Regalia of Japan: Three Sacred Treasures
Sword Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi or Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi
Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven
Grasscutter Sword
Valor
Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya
Necklace Yasakani no Magatama
Benevolence
Kokyo (the Imperial Palace) in Tokyo
Mirror Yata no Kagami
Wisdom
Grand Shrine of Ise in Mie prefecture
"The Eight Hand Mirror"
Initially belong to Sun Goddess Amaterasu
lured out of the cave with the mirror
sword: from Susanoo as a reconciliation gift
sword was in the tail of fire spitting serpent
She gave the regalia to her grandson Ninigi-no-Mikoto
sent to pacify Japan and plant rice
ancestor of the Japanese imperial line
Sword in Japanese History and Mythology
Jade magatama necklace
from Japanese burial
Amaterasu
(that which) illuminates Heaven"
Susanoo
Withering Wind of Summer
God of the sea and storms
Since 690 A.D. central part of the imperial enthronement
no public viewing, location is unconfirmed
no known photographs or drawings exist
may be not originals
After the WWII Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945
fate of the regalia was uncertain
Emperor Showa ordered to secure regalia
undisclosed location, protect "at all cost"
Nara period (710 794)
Technology imported from China
Oldest swords ~ 400 A.D.
Straight blade, single cutting edge
Faulty tempering
Heian period (794 1185)
Improved technology
Horseback fighting
Curved blade, up to 4 ft.
Hung from the waist
Edge down: tachi
Muromachi period (1392 1573)
Warring States period (Sengoku Jidai)
Large demand, decline in quality
Dark age of the Japanese sword
200,000 nihont imported to China
Development of the uchigatana
about 24 inches, worn edge up
one hand close quarters fighting
curve is similar to tachi
Kamakura period (1185 1333)
Golden age of the Japanese sword
Retired emperor Gotoba (1180 1239)
patron of the finest smiths
forged blades himself
Mongol invasion attempts, 1274 & 1281
footlong tanto, hand-to-hand combat
wider, heavier two-hand tachi
Koto: Old sword
Nanbokucho period (1336 1392)
Gokaden (Five Traditions)
Bizen
Soshu (Sagami)
Yamashiro
Yamato
Mino
Chokuto (Ken): Ancient sword
The History of Nihonto
Tachi by Ichimonji.
National Treasure. TNM
Imperial Japan (1912 1945)
Mass production for imperial army
Gunt swords: stamped, oil tempered
Swords making prohibited after WWII
Lost generation of swordsmiths
Momoyama period (1568 1603)
Evolution of the uchigatana
katana (24-30) and wakizashi (18)
Symbol of power and status
Shogunate decree for all samurai to wear daisho
Schools are mixed: brighter steel, flashy blades
Meiji Restoration (1867 1912)
Abolishing samurai class
1971 edict forcing samurai to cut top-knots
1873 creation of the Imperial Japanese Army
1873 hereditary samurai stipends terminated
1876 wearing swords is prohibited
Gendaito: Modern sword
Shinto: New sword
1953
prohibition is lifted
The History of Nihonto
daisho
Edo period (1603 1867 )
Tokugawa shogunate
Strict class hierarchy
samurai (shi)
farmers (no)
artisans (ko)
merchants (sho)
Appointed Chief Swordsmith
grant competency certificates
910 licensed smiths
Shinshinto swords
Evolution of the Nihonto
Time
Line
Time
Line
Nippon Bijutsu Tken Hozon Kykai (NBTHK)
Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Art Swords
Founded in 1960
Strict regulations are enforced:
To register the sword with NBTHK:
produced by licensed swordsmith
blade over 6, hamon, rivet hole in the tang
less than 6: knifes ( kogatana ), no regulation
Getting a license:
apprenticeship under licensed swordsmith
for a minimum of 5 years
Number of swords:
2 long swords (>2ft.) and 3 short swords (<2ft.) per month
based on meticulous style of eminent smith Akihira Miyairi
All swords must be registered with the police
NBTHK Competition
one sword per swordsmith
300-500 swords entered into competition
15 judges: swordsmiths, appraisers etc.
2 rounds with covered and open signature
swords ranked first to last
determine the value of the next year swords
mukansa: above the competition
ningen kokuho: living national treasure
Contemporary Sword: Shinsakuto
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Wakizashi from
Mutsu no Kami Fujiwara Kanenobu, a Mino smith in 17th century
Anatomy of the sword
Cut well Not bent Not break
Conflicting properties of steel:
hardness: maintain sharp edge, brittle
ductility: withstand hard blow, soft
Solution
core of the soft steel, shingane
jacket of the hard steel, kawagane
harden only the edge, hamon
habuchi
kawagane
shingane
hamon
blade cross section
Properties of the Steel: Fe-F
3
C Phase Diagram
Pearlite:
-Fe (88%) and Fe
3
C (12%) composite
Two-phase lamellar structure
Austenite:
exist above critical (eutectoid) temp. : 727 C
-Fe : solid solution of carbon and iron
Max. [C] solubility =2.1% , ductile
Face Centered Cubic (FCC) structure
Martensite:
Rapid quenching of austenite
Traps carbon atoms, no time to diffuse out
Body Centered Tetragonal (BCT) lattice
Phase diagram:
Equilibriumbetween the distinct material phases
Steel [C] <2.1% ,
Cast Iron [C] >2.1%
Ferrite:
-Fe, fairly ductile
Max. [C] solubility =0.022%
[C] atom ~2x interstitial
Body Centered Cubic (BCC) structure
Cementite:
Fe
3
C, carbide, hard and brittle, ceramic
Orthorhombic crystalline structure
Cementite
Microstructure of the Iron Iron Carbide Phases
Eutectic transitions: -Fe -->-Fe +Fe
3
C
Pearlite:
-Fe / Fe
3
C lamellar composite
-Fe matrix
Fe
3
C stripes
Austenite:
start above critical temperature: 723 C
carbon content: 0.83%
Martensite:
metastable, kinetic phase
not on phase diagram
needle-shaped grains
Austenite:
start above critical temperature: 727 C
carbon content: 0.83%
Microstructure of the Iron Iron Carbide Phases
Pearlite: 88/12-Fe/Fe
3
C
Pearlite +Ferrite:
88/12-Fe/Fe
3
C + -Fe
Pearlite +Cementite:
88/12-Fe/Fe
3
C + Fe
3
C
Microstructure of the Iron Iron Carbide Phases
Tradeoff : Ductility and Hardness
Austenite:
T > 727 C
[C] < 0.83% [C] > 0.83%
Pearlite + Ferrite:
[C] = 0.83%
Pearlite Pearlite + Cementite:
Ductility
Hardness
annealing
Martensite:
quenching
Properties and appearance of the steel:
- Location on the phase diagram
- Subsequent processing & heat treatment
Tatara and Tamahagane:
The Nittoho Tatara operated by NBTHK since 1977
Three operating cycles during the winter - 7 days / 5 people
Clay vessel: 1.2m (H) x 4.5m (L) x 1.5m (W)
10T of satetsu and 12T of charcoal ~ 2.5T of tamahagane
Typical carbon content: 0.6 -1.2 % ( optimum: 1.0-1.2% )
Smelting :
Iron ore (Fe
2
O
3
) comes as a fine black sand, satetsu
The furnace for smelting, tatara
Primitive and efficient method:
combine ore and charcoal
pump the air trough bellows
temperature: 1200-1500
0
C
Low temperature reduction, no melting
Alloys with impurities are not formed, removed with the slag
Iron combines with carbon to form tamahagane
Tamahagane mother of metal in kanji
The Steel
2 3 2
2
CO Fe 2 CO O Fe
O CO O C
+ +
+ +
satetsu
kera
dense, heavy
silvery color
fine crystallites
tamahagane
Refining the Steel: Oroshigane
Tamahagane - nonuniform, mixture of low and high [C] pieces
Outside jacket kawagane, [C] ~ 0.7-0.8%
Inside core shingane, [C] < 0.5%
Continuous loss of carbon during the process
Start forging with high carbon content, [C] ~ 1.0-1.5%
adding [C]
habuchi
kawagane
shingane
hamon
removing [C]
3
FeC C 3 Fe + CO 6 Fe 2 O 3 2FeC
2 3
+ +
oroshigane
Assembling Steel for Forging: Tsumiwakashi
T (C) T(F)
700 1292
1200 2192
1300 2372
1500 2732
oroshigane, [C] ~ 1.0-1.5%
heated to 1200-1500
0
C and
flattened into plates
broken into pieces and sorted
bright and clear high [C],
kawagane
dark and muddy low [C], shingane
plate with similar to tamahagane
composition is formed
4-5 lb. of selected pieces stacked
and wrapped in rice paper
wafers are fused at 1300
0
C and bar
twice the length of the original
tamahagane is prepared
Forging: Kitae Foundation forging: Shita-gitae
Total of 6 folds: cleft, fold, hammer
Each fold: 30 min. / 3 heat ups
Each fold: 3 min. of hammering
Remove impurities, homogenize, air bubbles
Consumes of the original tamahagane
make a cleft with a chisel
divide bar into two equal parts
fold the bisected bar, fuse the halves
and flatten the bar sorted
repeat the folding, remove impurities
and bubbles, homogenize
The way metal is folded will affect
jihada and jitetsu - depends on smiths
style and school
the final block is 10 x x 1 , divided
with chisel into three equal parts
Initial tamahagane [C] ~ 1.4%
0.3% lost in shita-gitae , 0.4% in age-gitae
Typically another of the steel lost
Forging: Kitae Finish forging: Age-gitae
for katana four steel pieces
are stacked an fused
another 6-7 folds
prevent oxidation with
clay and straw
Kawagane is ready, [C] ~ 0.7%
Hon-sanmai-gitae Kobuse-gitae
Forming the Steel Stock: Tsukurikomi
Shingane: prepare and shape long and narrow bar
Folded about 10 times, drive impurities out
Typical shingane [C] ~ 0.2-0.5%
kawagane
shingane
Piercing tip (kissaki) is always made from the best kawagane
Forging temperature: 1300
0
C
Extremely delicate and vital process
perfect weld, no voids or gaps
shingane completely covered by kawagane
Forming the Blank, Shaping and Rough Grinding the Blade
Shiage:
Preparation to harden the sword edge
rough grinding and filing
use sen to shave off irregularities
Use carborundum stone to rough grind the blade
Shape is well defined, edge is ~ 1/10
Hizukuri:
Drawing the cutting edge: ha-saki
hummer 6 at a time
yellow (~1100
0
C) and cherry red (~700
0
C)
Require fast work and precision hammering
overheated: separation of kawagane and shingane
to cold: damage or fracture the sunobe
kissaki , shinogi and mune are formed
blade is growing in a straight line
deceptively simple process
A fully formed kissaki, shinogi,
and mune from a sunobe
Sunobe:
Sword blank with no curve or edge
10% smaller, uniform thickness
Define nakago and kissaki
Creating the Cutting Edge: Tsuchioki
Yakiba hard cutting edge
The hardest but brittle form of steel is martensite
How to simultaneously:
convert the edge to martensite
keep the rest of the sword as ferrite + pearlite
habuchi
kawagane
shingane
hamon
Heat treatment process:
kawagane [C] ~ 0.6-0.7% (optimum, see HRC)
heat the blade above eutectic temperature: 723 C
fast cooling: austenite -> martensite
slow cooling: austenite -> ferrite + pearlite
Hamon:
- martensitic blade pattern
Habuchi:
- transitional zone
Hardness vs. carbon steel carbon content:
No gain, brittle Sharp decrease in hardness
Controlling Cooling Rate with Insulating Clay
Tsuchi-dori clay mixture
Stick well to roughened during shiage stage surface
clay for insulation
charcoal powder for heating control
sandstone (omura) to prevent cracking
school specific ingredients
Thin layer on the edge, thicker towards the back
Control cooling rate via:
thermal insulation
increase surface area
Prevent formation of the water bubbles on the surface
Faster cool down with thin clay layer
Distribution and thickness of tsuchi-dori
will determine hamon pattern
hardness is the objective of the process
Making ashi
literally means foot or leg
thin tsuchi-dori strips perpendicular to the yakiba
create pearlitic veins on hard martensitic edge
stop crack propagation originated at the edge
Hardening the Edge: Yaki-ire
Yaki-ire quenching in the cold water
metal is transformed and the sword is born
performed at night to accurately judge the temperature
color of the steel is like the moon in February or August
skill and experience each sword is unique
Draw the sword through the hot coals
slow and steady
first edge up: 10-15 times
then edge down: 2-5 times
Achieve even and uniform color
edge: bright red or orange
back: red or cherry red
Plunge the blade into the water
Tale of the severed hand
Yaki-modoshi tempering at 160
0
C
reheating and quenching again
relieve the stress, break down martensite crystals
of the swords do not survive yaki-ire
Strict attentiveness followed by swift and uncompromised action
(zen calligrapher, strike in kendo)


The Science: Yaki-ire
Heat treatment
heating to a high temperature
holding at temperature
cooling down at a specific rate
Steel cracking is the problems during quenching
high rate of cooling: surface cooler than interior
surface forms martensite before the interior
constrains from outer martensitic layer leading to residual stresses
Continuous cooling transform. (CCT) diagram
follow cooling curves
from the top left to bottom right
steel and sample specific
a austenite
f ferrite
p pearlite
b bainite
m martensite
CCT diagram for hypoeutectoid steel [C] < 0.8%
Circles DPH ( diamond-pyramid hardness )
Fast (~10sec): austenite > martensite
Medium (~1min): austenite > mixture
Slow (~3min): austenite > ferrite:pearalite
Heat Transfer Modeling: Yaki-ire
Prifile of
yakiba-tsuchi
Measured heat transfer coefficient
800 - 400
0
C:heat transfer coefficient with thin clay
is higher than that of without any clay
Thin clay nucleation boiling
Thick clay film boiling
Bare metal film boiling
Inoue Tatsuo, Mat. Sci. Res. Int. Vol.3, No.4 pp. 193-203 1997
Temperature distribution during yaki-ire
Temperature,
0
C
0
1
2
3
4
5
10
gyaku-sori: reverse bending ~ 1s
sori : normal bending ~ 10s
s
e
c
o
n
d
s
Nucleation boiling:
rapid, explosive, formation of bubbles
strong local velocity within the liquid film
increases heat transfer
surface dependant
Film boiling:
continuous layer of vapor covers the surface
insulating effect of the vapor
reduced the rate of heat transfer
Leidenfrost effect
Longitudinal stress distribution and residual stresses
Stress , MPa
1
10
4
2
Significant stress in yakiba
Fracture stress 1600-1700
MPa
s
e
c
o
n
d
s
Heat Transfer Modeling: Yaki-ire
Inoue Tatsuo, Mat. Sci. Res. Int. Vol.3, No.4 pp. 193-203 1997
tsuchi: uniform 0.8 mm
tsuchi: uniform 0.1 mm
volume fractions of martensite %
0.8 mm on the back
0.1 mm on the edge
Simulation of quenching with
different tsuchi distribution
(a)
(b)
(c)
yaki-modoshi
Martensitic transformation:
No long range diffusion
No compositional change
Transformation occurs by shear
Austenite to Martensite 4.3% volume increase
C
BCT
C
FCC
Quench
% 8 . 0
) ( '
% 8 . 0
) (

Adjusting the Curvature: Sorinaoshi
Sunobe is almost straight before quenching
During yaki-ire curvature is increased by almost
Volume change between austenite and martensite
Adjusting the curve
straightening by hammering
heating on copper block and quenching
addjust sori locally
(111)

<=> (011)

[101]

<=> [111]

[110]

<=> [100]

[112]

<=> [011]

Bain model structural transformation with a minimum of atomic motion
One-to-one correspondence between and atoms
Two FCC unit cells:
- contract by 20% in the z direction
- expand by 12% along the x and y directions
Just a Beginning.
Kajitogi : rough polishing
Hi : decorative grooves ( add surface area! )
Horimono : decorative carvings ( tatoo )
Nakago : the tang, filed, never cleaned
Mekugiana : the rivet hole
Mei : the signature, testing, owner etc.
engraved in the very end
often forged or destroyed
legend of Kanemitsu
Polishing: the art by itself
put a sharp edge
reveling the hamon, jihada, jitetsu
bring the sword to life
Habaki: blade is floating in the scabbard (saya)
Shirasaya simple white scabbard
ho tree (magnolia obovata)
glued with sokui, paste from cooked rice
carved with shallow lip for the edge
Saya
kurigata
kojiri
sageo
koiguchi
Tsuba
habaki
seppa
Tsuka
fuchi / kashira
http://www.ricecracker.com/
makishitasame
tsukaito
menuki
Fully Mounted Sword: Koshirae
Shinto katana. 1600s. Signed Suruga no Kami Kunimasa. Yasusada School. Soshu style. Notare
hamon. The mounts are original to the blade. Fuchi kashira done in shakudo and gold with a floral
design. The tsuba is a large iron sukashi with a design of ginger leaves.
volume fractions of
martensite %
What Makes Katana a Superior Sword?
Forging
optimal [C] content
folding process
Heat treatment
controlled quenching
martensitic edge
oroshigane
Design
kawagane jacket
shingane core
hamon
Hagakure
A certain swordsman in his declining years said the following:
In one's life there are levels in the pursuit of study. In the lowest level, a person studies but
nothing comes of it, and he feels that both he and others are unskillful. At this point he is
worthless. In the middle level he is still useless but is aware of his own insufficiencies and
can also see the insufficiencies of others. In a higher level he has pride concerning his own
ability, rejoices in praise from others, and laments the lack of ability in his fellows. This man
has worth. In the highest level a man has the look of knowing nothing.
These are the levels in general. But there is one transcending level, and this is the most
excellent of all. This person is aware of the endlessness of entering deeply into a certain
Way arid never thinks of himself as having finished. He truly knows his own insufficiencies
and never in his whole life thinks that he has succeeded. He has no thoughts of pride but
with self-abasement knows the Way to the end.
It is said that Master Yagyu once remarked:
"I do not know the way to defeat others, but the way to defeat myself. ''
Throughout your life advance daily, becoming more skillful than yesterday, more skillful than
today. This is never-ending.
Extra
The Science: Yaki-modoshi
Tempering
heating below eutectoid temperature
holding at temperature followed by cooling
Tempered martensite:
distribution of fine particles of Fe
3
C in matrix
hardness more than pearlite, ductility more than martensite
hardness and ductility controlled by tempering temperature and time
Pearlite
C Fe Fe
3
) ( +
C Fe Fe Fe
tempering
3
) ( ) ( +

T<T
Martensite
E
Tempered Martensite
Cold work: mechanical deformation of at relatively low temperatures
increase point defect and dislocations
stronger material
Fe-C diagram:
austenite: FCC -Fe ductile
ferrite: BCC -Fe fairly ductile
FCC unit cell >BCC unit cell
cementite: 2
nd
phase [Fe
3
C] brittle
cementite: [C] is in excess of the solubility limit
pearlite: two-phase lamellar structure
pearlite: -Fe (88%) and Fe
3
C (12%) whiskers
Fe-Fe
3
C
Eutectic transitions:
Cementite: -Fe -->-Fe +Fe
3
C
Ledeburite: L -->-Fe +Fe
3
C
Martensite:
tetragonal lattice
rapid quenching of austenite. change in volume
traps carbon atoms, no time to diffuse out
Heat Treatment
A
N
AT
T
Q
h
e
a
t
i
n
g
holding
time
T
Annealing Furnace cooling RC 15 Coarse pearlite
Quenching Water cooling RC 65 Martensite
Tempering Heating after quench RC 55 Tempered martensite
Normalizing Air cooling RC 30 Fine pearlite
Austempering
Quench to an intermediate
temperature and hold
RC 45 Bainite
Continuous Cooling Transformation Diagram for Eutectoid Steel
Martensite:
Austenite
Coarse peralite
Fine peralite
Cooling curves
Constant rate
t (s)
100
200
300
400
600
500
800
723
0.1
1
10
10
2
10
3
10
4
10
5
W
a
t
e
r

q
u
e
n
c
h
O
i
l

q
u
e
n
c
h
N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
i
n
g
F
u
l
l

a
n
n
e
a
l
Coarse P
P M
M+
Fine P
P
T
(

0
K
)

Time Temperature Transformation Diagram for Eutectoid Steel

Austenite
Bainite
Formation of bainite austempering
Bainite: short needles of Fe
3
C in plates of ferrite
Less strong but more ductile than martensite
Upper bainite: Lower bainite:
Austempering
Martempering
References
Front Picture: Blacksmith Munechika (end of the 10th century), helped by a fox spirit,
forging the blade kogitsune-maru ("Little fox"). Engraving by Ogata Gekk (18591920), 1873.
http://web.iitd.ac.in/~rajesh/
http://www.engr.usask.ca/classes/ME/324/Class-notes/Lecture3-Week11-2005.doc
http://yakiba.com/
http://legacyswords.com/fs_gen_sword6.htm
http://www007.upp.so-net.ne.jp/m-kenji/asj_lecture.htm
http://www.tnm.jp
http://www.samuraisword.com/nihontodisplay/CUTTING_TEST/Munehiro/index.htm
http://www.ksky.ne.jp/
http://www.thejapanesesword.com/
http://www.shibuiswords.com/
http://zenkou.com/books.asp/
http://www.arscives.com/bladesign/mino_uchigatana.htm
http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/terms/terms.htm
http://www.nihontoantiques.com/jigane_and_jihada.htm
http://www.arscives.com/historysteel/japaneseintroduction.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzJAUKZGyNQ&feature=related
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_sword
Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction , 6th Edition William D. Callister, Jr., Univ. of Utah
Phase Transformations in Metals and Alloys David Porter & Kenneth Esterling Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. Ltd., New York (1981)
The Samurai Sword: A Handbook Yumoto, John M. Tuttle Publishing, 2002
The Craft of the Japanese Sword by Leon and Hiroko Kapp and Yshindo Hoshihara; Kodansha America, Inc; 1987
THE JAPANESE SWORD : The Material, Manufacturing and Computer Simulation of Quenching Process
Inoue Tatsuo, Material Science Research International Vol.3, No.4 pp. 193-203 1997
The Forging of a Japanese Katana Michael Morimoto Colorado School of Mines June 14th, 2004
Samurai: The weapons and spirit of the Japanese warrior by Clive Sinclaire; First Lyons Press; 2001
The Japanese Sword: The Soul of the Samurai by Gregory Irvine; Weather Hill Inc; 2000
The Arts of the Japanese Sword by Basil W. Robinson; Charles E. Tuttle Company; 1971
The Japanese Sword by Kanzan Sato and Joe Earle; Kondansha International Ltd. And Shibundo; 1983