newbie question on beauty

[eternal_newbie]

Clearly Masamura is the gimei blade Doug is using in combat while his Muramasa sits safely at home!

[DirkO]

To go back to the original topic, I came across this text which I found very fitting:

 

It is true that early swords from many western centres of production such as Nürnberg, Toledo, Sheffield, Milan, Istanbul or Damascus were indeed handed down and valued as weapons for many generations. What perhaps places the Japanese Sword in a category of its own is the way in which it transcends functionality. It is more than just a superior weapon.

The unsurpassed beauty of forged steel and the variety of different hamon is indeed functionally expressed better here than anywhere else. The love and respect which the Japanese hold for the Sword is one reason why many magnificent examples have been preserved as if new over the centuries. These are true expressions of the spirit of integrity, honourable and brave behaviour, and the appreciation of beauty which were central to Bushido and constituted the very soul of the warrior, even if these are regrettably held in less esteem among the economic animals which it sometimes seem we have become.

[doug e lewis]

if it were real Muramasa blade --- tanto or tachi, don't care --- it would be beautifully displayed in the inner sanctum of my library and treasure room. Even the Masamura would have to be gimei ---- a real one would go with, but too near, the Muramasa.

 

But any sharp Shinto katana will do for trash that actually fights in anger.