by Jules Willis

Created on: June 04, 2008   Last Updated: September 17, 2009

It is said that a Samurai could see his soul in the mirror of the blade of his katana. As it was, the katana and the wakasashi were the Samurai's most loyal friends and the most depended upon. The swords would shelter him in victory and save his honor in defeat. The katana was an important weapon for the Samurai, and the most revered, but it wasn't his only weapon.

The katana evolved from earlier swords. The first swords in Japan actually came from the Asian mainland. They were not curved but were straight and flat. They were not really designed to cut like a katana, but were more useful for stabbing. Japanese sword makers eventually made swords with a ridge line on one side which made them more practical for cutting. These blades were probably the first swords actually made in Japan and evolved from the earlier imports from mainland Asia.

Changing the sword to make it a cutting sword rather than simply a stabbing sword was purposeful and over three or four hundred years a curvature was gradually introduced. Thus, evolved the sword known as the tachi, that preceded the katana. The tachi was a longer sword and was used as a secondary weapon to the bow and arrow. The tachi was good for combat while on horseback. The curvature of the tachi was pronounced and used to slash.

The tachi was the sword of what is known as the Heian Era in Japanese history. Within this Era, the Kamakura period was thought to be the age of Japanese swords with many swords becoming more and more flamboyant. This was the golden age of the Nihon-to (Japanese sword).Later in the Kamakura period, the Mongols invaded Japan. The invasion brought to light some problems with the tachi. The points sometimes broke and couldn't be repaired and the sword was rendered much less useful. This caused sword makers to modify the sword and the sword evolved further.

As time went on and the focus became swords for foot soldiers, the sword became longer, so as to be more effective. In 1467, the Onin War began a time of war lasting over a hundred years. This was the Senkogu Era (the time the country was at war). During this time there were three different groups of swords.

The first group was the Early Muromachi (1394-1466) Period, during this time tachi were still being used but this was the dawn of the katana. The tachi were long and due to their length they were hard to draw. Shorter blades were quicker to draw and the sword that evolved was the katana. The heyday of the katana was the Mid Muromachi (1467-1554)

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