Japanese swordsmiths

The series consists of two figures, the furnace, accessories and a Shiba Inu.

A very special myth surrounds the sword in Japan, which far surpasses the sword as a weapon and made it a work of art.

The sword sweeper's art had already reached its perfection in the Kamakura period (1185¬1333) and was able to maintain it through all the centuries. The actual art consisted of metalworking and the production of blades in general, not only that of swords, which were, however, the most important cutting weapons. Less attention was paid to the common thrusting weapons, such as lances, only because these were needed in much greater numbers and were therefore simpler in design, while the use of the sword as a weapon has always had the aura of the extraordinary.

The special importance of the sword begins with the early 17th century, when, because of the long period of peace, no fighting weapon was actually needed. But only from then on did it become a sign of privileged knighthood. Samurai families were proud if they could call a sword from the old days, or better, the blade of a well-known master, their own and guarded such swords as the most precious treasures of their rank.

In addition to the technical value, the symbolic nature of the weapon was also important. For the samurai, the sword had become a kind of cult object, the daily care of which was always undertaken by the owner himself.

Japanese swordsmithing is the labour-intensive bladesmithing process developed in Japan for forging traditionally made bladed weapons (nihonto) including katana, wakizashi, tanto, yari, naginata, nagamaki, tachi, nodachi, odachi, kodachi, and ya (arrow).