14 Field Museum of Natural History 



During the many centuries of wars, the samurai, 

 who wore two swords in his belt, had grown to look 

 upon this weapon as his dearest possession; it was 

 indeed "his living soul." On entering a house, the 

 long sword (kata?ia), with which he defended his lord 

 in battle, was laid upon a rack near the door (katana 

 kake). The shorter sword (wakizashi) was always 

 carried in his belt. This was his most prized posses- 

 sion. With it he would take his own life rather than 

 suffer the disgrace of being killed by an enemy, or, as 

 often was the case, would follow his feudal lord in 

 death, or commit suicide, in order to uphold and pro- 

 claim certain principles or to raise a protest against 

 unjust political measures. The suicide which was per- 

 formed with this sword was called harakiri or seppuku. 

 It was a fatal crosscut amounting practically to disem- 

 bowelment, and was performed with a staunch brav- 

 ery and self-abnegation characteristic of the samurai. 



The smaller sword is often more elaborately 

 decorated than its larger companion. It is accom- 

 panied by two smaller weapons, — a knife (kozuka) 

 and a skewer (kogai), both of which pass through the 

 sword-guard and slip into openings on either side of 

 the scabbar<J. The handles of these objects are always 

 decorated, as may be seen in studying those specimens 

 arranged on the floors of the cases. 



From the sixteenth century on, many artists devoted 

 their entire energy to the beautifying of the sword. At 

 first, plain iron was used for the fittings; but subse- 

 quently artists like Kaneiye, Nobuiye, and the early 

 Goto masters, created their guards with reliefs of 

 precious metals. Other styles of decoration developed, 

 until in the eighteenth century, when peace was estab- 

 lished throughout the empire, the sword had lavished 

 upon it workmanship equal in technique to that of 



[14] 



