Modern nihonto construction requirements

[obiwanknabbe]

Had a thought the other day and would love to hear others input on it. Modern true nihonto must be made of tamahagane. For a sword to be papered in Japan it must be traditionally made (with rare exceptions). Swords made of Namban tetsu are considered true nihonto and are capable of being papered. Why can modern smiths not use imported steel if it was a traditionally accepted practice to do so in the past?

[ROKUJURO]

I think it is because the NBTHK wants to preserve traditional techniques in the first place. It is not so much about making many swords or using any material available. 

If everything was allowed, we would probably see titanium swords just because black iron sand can contain a small percentage of it.....  

[Mikaveli]

I would imagine that one motivations of using tamahagane is that it makes a sword _more_ traditional.

 

Even with the best of intentions, sword making is an anachronism - and modernity creeps in to many aspects unintentionally.

 

Then, there's preserving tatara iron making itself. If traditionally made swords didn't use the output, there'd be more chance of losing that tradition too.

 

[The Forest Ninja]

I wish tamahagane would be easier to obtain and less expensive. 

[eternal_newbie]

1 hour ago, ROKUJURO said:

If everything was allowed, we would probably see titanium swords just because black iron sand can contain a small percentage of it.....  

That said, some measure of experimentation/research is allowed since there's nothing stopping you from making your own tamahagane, as the Akamatsu Taro clan of smiths do (and their steel does indeed have a different quality to that of swords forged using the NBTHK's tamahagane).

[ROKUJURO]

Very interesting! Still a traditional method of steel-making, but a bit different in the outcome, obviously.
Could you please describe in short where and how the quality differs in these swords?  

[ROKUJURO]

33 minutes ago, The Forest Ninja said:

I wish tamahagane would be easier to obtain and less expensive. 

Well, you could make your own! It is a lot of work, but it is possible. It would be good to have a small team, though.
I am willing to help with theoretical basics, if needed.

Please sign all posts with a first name and an initial, so we could address you in a polite manner. It is a rule on NMB.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Such things have been explored and perfected elsewhere; Howard Clark comes to mind using L6, and Hanwei using various special steels over the years. That market has always been more focused on performance, whereas modern Japanese Tosho perhaps focus more on the artistic side rather than sheer functionality at the cost of everything else. 

[ROKUJURO]

Correct, but even with differential quenching/hardening, these homogeneous modern industrial steels do not behave the same way as blades made in the traditional composite design. 

One of the reasons to follow the traditional way is that those old blades were (often, not at all times) battle tested which is difficult with recently made swords.

[eternal_newbie]

31 minutes ago, ROKUJURO said:

Very interesting! Still a traditional method of steel-making, but a bit different in the outcome, obviously.
Could you please describe in short where and how the quality differs in these swords?  

By quality, I mean "properties", not that it's necessarily better or worse. While I don't have extensive experience with shinsakuto, the steel used by the Akamatsu Taro smiths has a somewhat darker color compared to the blades typically produced using NBTHK-supplied tamahagane. It also seems to produce chikei and kinsuji/sunagashi somewhat more readily, which I imagine would be critical for a group that prides itself on Kiyomaro-utsushi (although admittedly this could also be due to technique, or a combination of both).

 

The jigane can be observed in the close-up photos at these listings:

https://www.toukenkomachi.com/index_en_tachi&katana_A090823.html

https://world-seiyudo.com/product/ka-050420/

https://www.aoijapan.net/katana-higo-koku-yatsushiro-ju-akamatsu-taro-kanemitsu-saku/

https://world-seiyudo.com/product/ska-010125/

https://katanahanbai.com/en/katana/katana-higonokuni-akamatsutaro-kanehiro/

 

There are also some great pictures and more information about them on this listing by a fellow NMB member: 

Scroll down past the first post for more detailed photos and discussions.

 

Disclaimer: I have a shinsakuto made by Akamatsu Taro Kanemitsu (Kimura Mitsuhiro)

[Nobody]

Under normal circumstances, all nihonto in Japan had to be banned and scrapped just after WWII, because they were thought to be mere arms. To save their lives, nihonto were defined as artwork and traditional crafts to be preserved. Therefore, existing nihonto must be traditionally made from traditional material and registered as artwork.

Any blades like nihonto which do not clear the criteria to be registered are thought to be only weapons and illegal in Japan.

IMHO, modern nihonto are not expected or allowed to be improved as weapons beyond traditional borders.

[John C]

Here in the U.S., Tom Zowada makes his own tamahagane from Lake Superior black sand.

 

 

John C.