Call of the Blade

A telltale symbol of Japan, the katana sword endures today as a model of Japanese craftsmanship and dedication.

No thermometers. No gauges or timers. The swordsmith relies only on his own finely honed senses to heat the raw steel.

“As they say historically, ‘To the color of the solstice moon,’” Paul Martin (pictured) says.

The former curator of the British Museum’s Japanese arms and armor collection and current trustee of the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Sword Culture may not be a swordsmith himself, but he’s keenly aware of the idiosyncratic methods necessary to craft katana blades.

“You could write a book telling people how to make swords,” Martin says. “But if you don’t have the direct teaching, you’re going to be missing something. Those intangible skills could be lost.”

For a millennium and then some, Japanese swordsmiths have passed on those carefully nurtured skills to each subsequent generation. Their ranks have certainly thinned since the age when samurai faced off against one another, but they and their exquisite wares survive to this day.

“Ten years ago, there were about 300 licensed swordsmiths,” he says. “Today, it’s about 200.”

One problem, explains Martin, who leads a presentation and discussion on Japanese arms and armor at the Club on December 9, is that there’s hardly any profit to be had in swordsmithing today. However, some still see the beauty in a katana’s curve (“like the drooping branch of a willow tree”) or are drawn to it through a background in martial arts.

“It’s not a lucrative business,” Martin says of those who still devote themselves to a life at the forge. “It’s more of a calling than anything else.”

A fully assembled sword like the ones to be displayed at the Club this month are the product of more than just one master swordsmith. Individual artisans each craft the pommel, the intricate guard and the scabbard housing the blade. There’s even a separate school of blade polishing that requires its own training and tutelage.

“Most Japanese craftsmen focus on just one craft,” Martin explains. “If you try and become a jack-of-all-trades, the level [of artistry] decreases quite rapidly.”

It all seems to defy logic: scores of artisans laboring over a single blade in the modern age, all to craft an implement of war that no longer has a place on the battlefield.

Perhaps there is some truth in legendary 17th-century samurai Miyamoto Musashi’s enduring words: “The sword has to be more than a simple weapon. It has to be an answer to life’s questions.”

TAC Talk: Paul Martin
Dec 9 | 6:30–8pm

Gallery Exhibition: Sword Culture
Dec 15–Jan 12 | Frederick Harris Gallery

Words: Owen Ziegler
Image: Irwin Wong