“The Sword and the Chrysanthemum” by Paul Martin Part2: How to Appreciate a Japanese Sword as Art
Text by Paul Martin
Paul Martin and his Kamon(Photo/Steve Morin)
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(Publication period: December 12, 2025 – January 13, 2026)
How to Appreciate a Japanese Sword as Art
The Japanese sword has always been appreciated as ‘art’. In the Masu-kagami it states that the Emperor Gotoba was a connoisseur of swords and had ‘an eye better than that that a man of the way (a craftsman)’. The Masu-kagami, however, is considered fictional based on historical facts and was written in the 14th C. However, the earliest evidence of ‘the appreciation of Japanese swords as art’, appears in the Matsuzaki Tenjin Engi picture scroll in Hofu Tenmangu shrine. Painted in the Kamakura era (12th-early 14th C.), it features a scene in the everyday life of the Lord of Harima, Aritada. He is sitting in his house on his tatami mats, with a woman off to the side that appears to be his wife, and two younger women that may be his daughters or servants in the foreground performing everyday tasks.
However, if you focus in on Aritada, you will see that he is admiring the beauty of his sword. How do we know this? First, observe his posture. He is holding the sword very lovingly, as if it is his baby, or lover. Next, he isn’t looking along the line of the cutting-edge to see if it is sharp or not. Also, he isn’t looking at it closely directly from the side, as if he is checking for cracks or chips. He is admiring in from afar. This means that he is viewing it as art, observing the hues and textures of the surface and the pattern and crystalline activities of the hamon. If he can do this, it means that the blade had some kind of refined polishing techniques applied to it. Not the exceptionally refined ‘art-polishing’ techniques that we have today, but enough for Aritada and the other connoisseurs of the day to observe and record the characteristics of various sword makers.
Again, how do we know this? We know this because Aritada is taking great care not to touch the polished areas of the blade with his bare hands. This means that he is aware that if he did touch the blade with his bare hands, that the oil and acids contained in the skin would leave fingerprints and stain or rust the blade.
This custom of the appreciation of the intrinsic beauty of steel as art in unique to Japan, and sword appreciation has been passed down the ages until today. It is probably the main difference between swords in the west and Japanese swords. The objective of swordsmiths from all cultures is the same. To make a sword that doesn’t bend, doesn’t break and cuts well. However, it is an additional rule of Japanese arts and crafts that the objects must also be beautiful.
Even some 3rd C. German daggers have folding patterns (hada) in the steel and a differentially hardened edge. Apart from just hammering lumps of metal into blade shapes, if you want a blade to be consistent in strength along its length, and be able to hold a sharp cutting-edge, at that time, fold-forging was the only method available. However, only in Japan did the technology that enhanced visual appeal of hamon progress and the additional appreciation of such aspects develop into a traditional culture. In the west, swords were polished to a mirror finish and the mountings may have been decorated extensively. Whereas, in Japan, mountings were generally relatively simple.
What Determines a Meito (Masterpiece Sword)?
Among the average person outside of Japan, the katana, or Japanese sword is mostly regarded as a very cool weapon. This is merely based on the overall characteristics of its curved shape, lacquered scabbard and uniquely wrapped hilt. Of course, martial artists and collectors take a deeper interest in Japanese sword and become more educated. However, even in Japan, there is a largely a divide between martial art users of swords, and collectors of swords as art. This division is also historically between two types of Japanese swordsmiths. Ones that focus on function, and ones that believe that it should be equally beautiful. For generations, the smiths of Seki (Modern Aichi prefecture) and Bungo (Modern Oita prefecture) have been slightly frowned upon for producing very effective swords that were slightly less beautiful.
However, it is a unique aspect to Japan’s warrior culture, that arms and armor should not only be effective, but also must also be beautiful. Vast expense was given to the production of swords and exquisite armor. Which to the untrained eye, may seem rather flamboyant for the battlefield, but this is because the Japanese sword is the backbone of Japanese culture, and a mirror of the Japanese mind.
There are three main factors to Japanese swords. As with all art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, as a general rule, the balance between these three factors is what determines whether a Japanese sword has been masterfully produced or not. For example, if the shape is poorly executed, not only does it become less beautiful, but also affects cutting ability, making it less effective. If you have a good shape (Sugata), but the surface steel (Jigane) or pattern of the hardened edge (Hamon) is poorly executed, the blade is again not a complete work of art, and also may suffer catastrophic failure. A well-executed masterpiece should be a harmonious balance between these three main factors.
- The shape (sugata).
- The surface steel (Jigane).
- The pattern of the differentially hardened edge (Hamon).
photo/Tom岸田
The Shape (Sugata)
The shape should conform to and fit within prescribed shapes of the different periods throughout Japanese sword art history. Among the most common shapes of any particular given historical period of manufacture, there are no oddly curved swords, they all appear very natural in appearance. Much like the drooping branches of a willow tree. There are sections with more acute curvature, and others with a shallower curvature, but overall a natural graceful curve. It is an aspect that is said to be tied in with the universal human attraction to the Fibonacci sequence (Golden ratio).
The Surface Steel (Jigane) and Grain Patterns (Jihada)
Japanese swords are made from Japanese steel (watetsu), a type of bloom steel. These days it is commonly known as tamahagane, but actually there are various types of steel production. When the iron-age came to Japan, it was discovered that Japan was poor in iron-ore (tekkotsu), but instead had abundant amount of sand-iron (satetsu). Due to this, the iron and steel production method of Tatara-buki proliferated in Japan. However, as this produces a type of bloom steel, the carbon and other elements are not evenly distributed throughout the bloom. Therefore, the fold-forging method (orikaeshi-tanren) is employed to distribute those elements more evenly (but not homogenously) throughout the steel.
The Hamon (pattern of the differentially hardened edge)
The differential hardening process via quenching (yaki-ire) a red-hot blade into a bath of tepid water produces the hardened edge of the blade and the appearance of the hamon (the visible crystalline structure that runs along the cutting edge of the blade), which is the result of the reaction of the crystals in the steel under extreme temperature. The swordsmith can control this reaction to some degree by the application of clay to the blade, which is scraped off along the cutting edge and dried before the heating and quenching process. This reaction is the combining of crystals and carbon forming new crystals whilst interacting with the folding pattern of the steel itself. The crystals are then frozen in place at the time of quenching.
This interaction produces an inimitable hamon that distinguishes each blade completely from all other blades and can be compared to the uniqueness of fingerprints or DNA. The individually distinguishable crystals in the steel are called nie (literally, boiling) and the crystals that are not individually distinguishable, that appear like the milkyway on a clear night, are called nioi (literally, fragrance). The different combinations and sizes of crystals all have specific terms applied to them and the overall appearances are often likened to that of natural occurrences.
It’s all a bit confusing! How do I appreciate swords as art?
The wide range of unfamiliar terminology in addition to dealing with the abstract aspects of the hues and textures of the mixed different grain like surface patterns, the various patterns of the differentially hardened edge, and the names of the various clusters of crystalline patterns (activities) within that hardened-edge that also spill out onto the blade itself sometimes, can be a bit overwhelming.
However, learning a wide range of terminology is not necessarily a priority. When you look at the sword, first look at its shape. You could try to figure out what historical time frame it comes from or is aiming for, but instead just appreciate the natural aspect of the curve. Next, look at the swirling hues and textures of the surface steel. They might not be apparent at first, but your eyes will eventually see finer and finer details. When you look at the surface steel, you cannot but help see the pattern of the hamon covering sections of it. When you point the sword towards a light source and gently rotate the blade, where the light interacts with the hamon, you will see the various glittering activities appear and disappear. There are also other aspects like utsuri, a misty band in various patterns and density that generally runs parallel to the hamon, but closer to the shinogi (ridgeline).
Lastly, take one section of the blade at a time, and think of it as a canvas, or scenery. This is subjective, and art is subjective, but try to envisage one of those scenes that may be relative to the simpler terminology that describes the blade. The most important thing is, does it speak to you? Do you think it is beautiful or not? Here are some examples below.
What can you see?
Here is a blade with a ko-midare (small irregular undulations) hamon, it has an itame-hada (mainly elliptical wood like grain pattern), with a band of midare-utsuri. There are not many clues in the terminology of this blade, but using your imagination, what can you see?
Photo 1.
Photo/古美術刀剣 飯田高遠堂
Here is a photo of what I think is similar scenery. There are mountains and mist. As I mentioned, it is subjective, some people might see the waves of the sea, and clouds, etc. However, when you can see the activities in the hamon clearly, you may see streaky lines of crystals that resemble lightning (inazuma), so like mountain storms, etc.
Photo 2.
This one is very self-explanatory. This type of hamon is called, sanbon-sugi (three cedar trees. You can see the repeating pattern of three cedar trees along the blade (one tall one flanked by two small ones). However, if you take this image and include the visual aspects of the grain pattern, maybe you can see things in the distance.
Photo 3.
Like this. A row of cedar trees in a row on a mountain, with other snow crested mountains in the distance.
Photo 4.
This next one is [an utsushi-mono (facsimile) of] the National Treasure blade, Sanchomo/Yamatorige. It has a choji-ba hamon that was a very famous style that originated in Bizen province (Okayama). This blade was among the 35 masterpieces own by Age of the Warring States warlord, Uesugi Kenshin, and his son, Kagekatsu. So, when you appreciate this blade you are getting the same impressions and feelings of that of a famous warlord from 500 years ago.
Photo 5
Photo/トム岸田
Choji are actually clove blossoms.
Photo 6.
This blade is very active with much prominent nie crystals, and large brushstrokes like undulating lines. This activity is actually called, sunagashi, as it resembles drifting sands.
Photo 7.
One other way to describe the glittering nie crystals visible in the surface of the blade is to visualize them as twinkling stars in the dark night sky, and the nioi crystals as the clouds of the milky way. Can you see the resemblance?
Photo 8.
As anyone can appreciate the beauty of Japanese swords, there is no need to get wrapped up in all the terminology and appraisal of Japanese swords. Even the average samurai probably only had a layman’s knowledge of swords, but they were still a symbol of their aesthetic sense. Merely ask yourself, does it speak to you? You too do not need to be a connoisseur to own, appreciate, care for, and pass down a sword to future generations.
