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FOREWORD

THE PURPOSE of this brief handbook is to furnish samurai-sword owners and collectors with information about their swords, to relate some of the intriguing history and legends surrounding them, and to emphasize their artistic value.

Because of the value of such swords, information about their proper care and maintenance is contained herein. It is hoped that some far-sighted individual will one day initiate a foundation whose sole purpose shall be to collect samurai swords and preserve their beauty for posterity as objets d’art.

Through the mist and fog of great antiquity, there remain the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan, which are still held in reverence by the people: the Sacred Mirror, the Comma-Shaped Beads, and the Sword—the three most highly prized national treasures in Japan. The fact that the Sword is listed among them is significant in that it indicates that the Japanese do not regard the sword as being merely a weapon. Some people collect these valuable and rare masterpieces as avidly as some seek old pistols and stamps.

In ancient times it was well established that anything suitable as an offering to the gods had to possess three elements: purity, rarity, and value. The sword was believed to have all of these characteristics, and it was a not uncommon practice to give one as a votive offering. According to records, the first such offering was made to the gods in 3 B.C. Later, the sword became the symbol of the samurai code and acquired further spiritual qualities.

The samurai code, or code of the warrior, is comparable to the code of honor of the European feudal period and was based primarily upon the mastery of arms, principally the sword. The samurai sword was a family heirloom, carefully preserved and passed on to each succeeding generation. Even in modern times these swords have been carried into battle by officers and men of the Japanese army and navy.

The swords collected by American soldiers in the recent war were regarded in many different lights. Most soldiers thought they were collecting only souvenirs, and seldom did they ever suspect the true value of the swords.

Immediately after the cessation of hostilities swords in Japan were confiscated by the Allies as weapons. Later, however, those having artistic or historical value were returned to their original owners to be preserved as objets d’art. The samurai sword remains in Japan and throughout the world as an impressive example of specialized workmanship culminating in fine art.

When the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, the samurai sword lost its prestige as a weapon, but it still remains the most perfect steel sword in the world. The Damascus and Toledo swords of folklore or the Excalibur blade of English literature could in no way compare with the workmanship and the quality of steel that went into the manufacture of the samurai sword.

—John M. Yumoto