Blue Katana 3

This blue katana is the favored blade of my darling ~kaioshade and photographed with his permission. What you can't see in the photo is a delicate string of kanji carved into the wood of the sheath.

DESCRIPTION: The katana as we know it today is the fruition of sword evolution from Japan's history of warfare. Around the 8th Century AD., the Chinese-descended straightsword lost its prominence in battle due to the adaptation of horses in mounted battle, therefore creating the need for longer curved swords known as tachi, the longer form of the katana blade.

This finely crafted blade has since become a long-standing symbol of the bushi, or samurai, of Japan and is created by a careful process of folding steel hundreds or even thousands of times over using refined forging techniques. Katana forging is viewed as an ascetic art, the greatest master forgers being Muramasa and Masamune, the makers of the perfect blades.

Traditionally, two swords are worn on the left side, one long and one shorter. The long one is known as the daito (or katana) and the shorter one known as the wakazachi. Together they are known as daisho. Only samurai were permitted to wear these swords for many years until the merchant class were permitted to wear katana. However, only samurai could wear both weapons at once to show their status.


DIMENSIONS:
Blade: 29.5 inch (74.93 cm)
Hilt: 15 inch (38.1)

DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE SET OF IMAGES HERE:
[link]

SOURCES:
[link]
[link]

For rules of usage, see my FAQ.