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Thread: Katana

  1. #61
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    A katana blade has a convex edge grind (also referred to as an 'Appleseed grind') in cross-section. A machete has a wider, thinner, flat blade with a beveled edge. Authentic katana blades are differentially hardened (harder at the edge, softer at the spine, for greater durability), but machetes are softer steel all-around (also for durability).

    Jim
    Last edited by Jimbo; 03-20-2018 at 06:44 PM.

  2. #62
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    “We just want to return it.”

    So good of them to return it.

    Minnesota couple discovers WWII Japanese sword souvenir is centuries old
    By Tim Krohn/CNHI News Service Feb 17, 2019 Updated Feb 17, 2019
    1 min to read


    A WWII Japanese samurai sword brought home as a wartime souvenir by a Minnesota solider turns out to ve 400 years old.
    Provided Photo

    LE CENTER, Minn. – A Japanese samurai sword received for payment of construction work by a local contractor has turned out to be more than 400 years old and considered special in its home land.

    Jeff Traxler, who collects Word II and other military memorabilia, was given the sword long ago by his friend Jeff Fowler in return for doing construction work he needed done.

    Fowler’s late father served in the Pacific Theater in World War II and brought the sword home with him as a souvenir. It was displayed for decades in Traxler’s hunting preserve clubhouse.

    A year ago, Jeff Traxler's son Sam and girlfriend Allie Trnka began researching the sword’s history, posting photos of it on a Reddit community forum. "We were looking for some translations because the sword smith's name was on it and an address," Sam said.

    A retired antique expert in Japan, Takashi Yano, contacted them, saying the sword appeared to be extraordinary. Yano, working with a team in Japan, did further research and traced it to Nichinan City, Japan, estimating a sword smith made it there around 1600.

    The original owner was a leader of the Ito Clan who lived in a Nichinan castle and whose clan ruled over a large part of southern Japan, Yano reported.

    Fowler is unsure how his father came about the sword. He likely was among U.S. soldiers who were allowed to take Japanese swords as wartime souvenirs from captured weapons before they were destroyed.

    Realizing its historic value, the Traxlers and Fowler began talking with their contacts in Japan about returning it to descendants of the original owner for display in the present castle’s museum.

    "It's worth quite a bit, but we're not interested in the money,” said Jeff Traxler. “We just want to return it.”

    And that’s exactly what Sam Traxler and his girlfriend will do later this month. Residents of Nichinan raised funds for the couple’s flight to Japan and accommodations for a 10-day stay, which will include a pageantry-filled ceremony reuniting the samurai sword with its town of origin.

    "We're pretty excited about returning it to where it should be," said Sam. “They have time set up to prep us for the ceremony and the costume and makeup.”

    The Minnesota couple is also working on a website dedicated to the sword’s return, its history and any future details regarding the samurai scimitar.

    "We're pretty excited about returning it to where it should be," Sam said. “It’s super rare and was thought to be lost.”

    Tim Krohn is a reporter for the Mankato, Minnesota, Free Press. Contact him at tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com.
    Gene Ching
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  3. #63
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    20万円のゴミ屋敷かったら国宝級のお宝発見!日本刀、景光!

    Gene Ching
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  4. #64
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    Sakabato Shinuchi: Reverse blade Katana

    Real-life Rurouni Kenshin reverse-blade sword to be displayed in Tokyo
    Casey Baseel days ago



    The sakabato’s journey brings it to Japan’s eastern capital, just like the anime swordsman’s did.

    Himura Kenshin, protagonist of the Rurouni Kenshin anime/manga, famously wields a reverse-edged sword called a sakabato. The reason why is pretty easy to see from a storytelling perspective: Being unsharpened along the regular cutting edge for a katana lets Kenshin swing his sakabato with speed and strength in duels without drawing blood or killing his opponent. Having the inner edge sharpened, though, also provides a constant temptation to resort to deadly violence, and a means by which to show Kenshin’s honorable resolution in overcoming it as part of his path to redemption after years as a feared killer.

    In real life 19th-century Japan, however, people in the market for a sword didn’t have the luxury of choosing a weapon that sacrificed sharpness in order to accentuate their troubled personal backstory, and so no real-world sakabato existed. Well, at least none existed until recently, when Japanese swordsmith Kanekuni Ogawa created one, called the Sakabato Shinuchi (meaning “Sakabato Truly Forged”)

    ▼ Kanekuni Ogawa


    Based in the town of Seki, which has been known for its swordsmiths for centuries, Ogawa is so talented that he, personally, has been awarded the title of “important tangible cultural property” by the city. Upon the sword’s completion, it was exhibited in the Meijimura historical building park in Aichi Prefecture, in connection with Rurouni Kenshin being set in the Meiji period of Japanese history.

    Now, though, just as the emperor of Japan moved from Kyoto to Tokyo in the Meiji period, so too is the Sakabato Shinuchi coming to the capital, where it will be displayed from April 24.

    Even for those who’ve never read the manga or watched the anime (Ogawa himself had never seen either before taking on the project), the Sakabato Shinuchi is a striking piece, and has a singular beauty among Japanese swords. Because its blade is on the other side of where it would be on a normal katana, the real-life sakabato also has completely unique hamon (tempering marks), with the undulation being more prevalent along the inner curve of the flat.

    ▼ Sakabato Shinuchi, during its display at Meijimura



    As is customary for swords in Japan, the Sakabato Shinuchi will be displayed without a handle. This is done because the nakago (the part of the hilt that extends into the handle) is where Japanese swordsmiths inscribe their names, though in the case of the Sakabato Shinuchi, Ogawa has instead carved the death poem of Arai Shakku, the smith who forged Kenshin’s sakabato in the anime, since that’s what’s on the nakago in the source material.



    The sword will be displayed as part of the travelling Ruruni Kenshin Exhibition, celebrating the franchise’s 25th anniversary. The Tokyo exhibition will take place from April 24 to June 7 at Gallery AaMo, part of the Tokyo Dome City complex adjacent to Tokyo Dome, with tickets available online here.

    Event information
    Rurouni Kenshin Exhibition / るろうに剣心展
    Venue: Gallery AaMo / ギャラリー アーモ
    Address: Tokyo-to, Bunkyo-ku, Koraku 1-3-61
    東京都文京区後楽1丁目3−61
    website
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    Gene Ching
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  5. #65
    I like samurai swords beacuse this sword is date back to the feudal Japan use by Samurai. These swords are the most prestigious in Japanese culture because of their historical value. The earlier Japanese swords had straight blades with no curves such as Nagamaki, but as time passed, these swords evolved and changed their shape.

  6. #66
    Quote Originally Posted by maxwell872 View Post
    The earlier Japanese swords had straight blades with no curves such as Nagamaki, but as time passed, these swords evolved and changed their shape.
    That's nice to know ~ I bought an awsome telescoping samurai sword at Anime Expo but have been concerned its not historically-correct ... because it is straight ~ Actually, their handles are very nice for doing Chinese forms. ~ There also seems to be so much more old pictures out there of Japanese hand positioning that I can add to my forms.

  7. #67
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    Pfizer TV AD SPOT 0:30 'Got Booster?' with Martha Stewart

    Gene Ching
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