According to the sword smiths of the Yamato Province, the first Katana was forged in 700 AD by Amakuni. Amakuni was the head of the sword smiths, employed to make swords for the emperor and his army. Amakuni was always on good terms with the emperor. However, one day as the emperor passed by Amakuni and his son, the emperor did not nod to Amakuni. Amakuni thought this was strange until he noticed the swords of the emperor's army. Nearly half of the soldier's swords were broken.
Amakuni and his son collected the broken swords and examined them. All of the swords had been poorly forged. Amakuni, with tears in his eyes, swore to make a sword which would not break.
For seven days Amakuni and his son, Amakura, prayed to the Shinto gods. After their prayer Amakuni gathered sand ore and refined it. For thirty days father and son worked on the new design of the sword. The resulting sword had a curved design and single cutting edge. Although the other sword smiths thought the design was ludicrous, Amakura continued to refine the design. He gave the new swords to the emperor's army.
When the emperor's army returned from battle with the new swords not one sword was broken. As the emperor passed Amakuni he smiled at him and said, "You are an expert sword maker. None of the swords you mad failed in this battle."
Although this is a fascinating myth about the origin of the katana, it is still a myth. The actual origin of the katana was a much longer road full of wars, invasions, innovations, failures and triumphs. It is said that the sword is the soul of the Samurai, but it would be more accurate to say that the sword is soul of Japan.
During this month we will briefly investigate the Japanese Sword.
