Hadatatsu

[Martin]

Hi all,

 

could anybody please explain to me what exactly Hadatatsu is?

I heard that it is some kind of "open" grain - but it is considered as a flaw?

I could not really find any pictures showing Hadatatsu.

 

Thanks for any help,

Martin

[sencho]

Nagayama describes HADA TATSU as a "Coarse" jihada in The Connoisseur's book of Japanese Swords.

 

The other descriptions of the characteristics of the grain pattern are "Fine, Dense, Strong, Weak. Clear, Cloudy, Whitish"

 

So you would describe the grain pattern by firstly the type of pattern, i.e. MOKUME or MASAME, and also by the characteristic of the grain in the particular grain pattern... "STRONG MASAME" or "HADATATSU (COARSE) MOKUME", etc

 

cheers

[nagamaki - Franco]

http://www.nihontocraft.com/Ura_Nihon_no_Toko.html

 

........ more reading about "hadatatsu", 2nd paragraph down. This article makes the important distinction of defining 'rough hada' as in comparison. Often those unfamiliar with particular nihonto subjects take things much too literally. That is one reason it becomes important to study as many different kinds of swords as possible.

[Martin]

Hi,

 

thanks so far.

So for what I understood (with my English ) it´s rather a feature than a "bug", yes?

 

cheers,

Martin

[sencho]

Hi Martin,

 

This is a new term for me also, but yes, I believe it is only a feature like you say and not a flaw.

 

The word is a description of the grain (whatever the grain pattern is).

 

I do not believe that the word is describing any negative feature of the blade in any way.

 

This is what I have gleamed from my rapidly expanding library on nihonto. I think that if there was a negative meaning to this word (i.e. if it described a flaw, or that "coarse" grain was a negative feature of a blade) then "The Connoisseur's book of Japanese Swords" would have mentioned it.

 

Cheers!

[nagamaki - Franco]

An important identifying feature among the Ura Japan smiths is their hada. The jigane has a tendency to be somewhat rough or "hadatatsu". This type of jigane is also often called "hadamono". ....... One has to keep in mind that Ura smiths are the focus here.

 

While the jigane on some swords may have what is described as hadatatsu and it is to be expected , on other swords it is, well, not so good . Every sword must be researched and evaluated individually. Again, be very careful not apply things too literally.