photo #1344373

The way of the swordIn feudal Japan, the sword was cultured as a deity. His forge took months and performed a thorough ritual. Each craftsman responsible for making the blades signed their name on the sword handle. They were such customized works that you recognized a saber by the forger's style, as you recognize a painting or a sculpture. Starting to make a sword, the craftsman would close the atelier with a straw rope of rice to scare away the bad spirits. During the forge, he refrained from alcohol and contact with women.The iron ore was used, collected on the banks of the rivers, as raw material. At the first moment, he was mixed with pine leaves and fused into plates, in handmade ovens. In fact, a sequence of casting processes was obeyed that could last weeks and were carried out until the metal reached the ideal point for the beginning of the blade. The whole process was considered to be something mystical. The blade, a five-layer metal sandwich, had the most flexible internal part, to facilitate movement, and the stricter edge, to determine the cut. Ready the blades, the sword gained a noble and very light wood cord, coated with stingray leather or shark, studded with gems and designs made in gold and silver. Each sword had a unique shape and despite all the material employed, it was lightweight: it weighed between 1 and 2 kilos.