Thread: Making of a nihonto

Originally Posted by Bruno

And many sword smiths hop over the chinese border each month to make swords (both modern and traditional) for Chinese manufacturers because it's their only way to make ends meet.

I think it's somewhat more than a hop Bruno - if you live in central Japan, China is 1000 miles away - so you'd have to hop over Korea first.

Awesome. I am glad their are some not succumbing to mass production and still make them the old way. Maybe not as a profitable business but to keep the tradition alive. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by Steel

Awesome. I am glad their are some not succumbing to mass production and still make them the old way. Maybe not as a profitable business but to keep the tradition alive. Thanks for sharing.

You misunderstand. The smiths are not the ones doing the choosing. The government is choosing for them, forcing them to compete with foreign smiths with their hands tied; Making many of them close up shop, sometimes in a rather terminal manner. I'd say it is a bit hypocritical for someone to choose how a craftsman may make a living. Especially since the decision makers are not the ones who end up in the poor house.

A monosteel blade can have the same quality as a traditionally made. Probably even better. And the traditional would be kept alive, via the traditional apprenticeship and the fact that there are still people ordering nihonto.

You can make the comparison with Italian cars. Among others, there are fiat and Ferrari. The fact that some people buy fiat doesn't hurt Ferrari. People who want a Ferrari will still buy one. What the Japanese government is doing is mandating that all car dealers can only sell Ferrari.

Or a different analogy: the craft of making barrels by hand is kept alive in Scotland by apprentices who have to learn to do everything by hand, from scratch to become master. And when they get there, they make barrels using modern machinery and tools because no one in his right mind would force barrelmakers to work traditionally while at the same time competing with modern technology.

I'd say the smiths should be the ones allowed to choose after they get their master license.

Was very interesting to watch, from sand to a sword. Never seen a draw knife used on steel before. New Zealand is a volcanic country like Japan with vast quantities of iron sand.