METAL INDUSTRY. 431 



days in the process, as for example, at Anegawa in Idzumo. Steel 

 and iron are obtained in this way at the same time. ^ 



The sword, the most beautiful, most valuable, and the most 

 dreaded weapon of Japan during the feudal times, was, according 

 to the expression of the lyeyasu, " the living soul of the Samurai." 

 To wear the sword was his greatest privilege. He was trusted 

 with it even when a boy, and carried it with him on his way 

 to school (see vol. i. p. 327). The oldest Japanese sword, Tsu- 

 rugi, or Ken, was carried crosswise over the back, and brandished 

 with both hands. It was a straight, heavy weapon, with sharp 

 edges on both sides, nearly a meter long, and from six to seven 

 centimeters broad. As these were later made half the length and 

 somewhat shortened, another weapon, the Katana or common 

 sword of the Japanese, was devised, with an edge which is slightly 

 curved toward the end. The Samurai carried this either alone 

 or with a second smaller, dagger-like sword, on the left side of 

 his girdle. These smaller weapons were known by the names 

 Wakizashi, and were in later times shortened to 29 centimeters 

 (nine and a half inches) and used in the Harakiri, or disembowelling. 



The forging and polishing of swords was a wearisome work, 

 demanding much skill and practice. Hiitterott especially gives 

 particular details concerning the various methods of combining 

 the hard steel with the soft, elastic iron. The tempering (Yakiba, 

 from Yaki, to burn, and Ha, edge) of the edge is carefully done 

 in the charcoal furnace, the softer backs (Mune) and the sides 

 being surrounded up to a certain point with fire clay, so that only 

 the edge remains outside. The cooling takes place in cold water. 

 It is in this way that the steeled edge may be distinguished clearly 

 from the back, by its colour and lustre. The backs of knives, axes 

 and other weapons are united to the steel edge either by welding 

 on one side, or by fitting the edge into a fluted groove of the back 

 blade, and welding on both sides. 



Toward the end of the 15th century the occupation of the artist 

 was united to that of the smith. Then they commenced to pay 

 great attention to the mounting of the blade. In this work Tsuka, 

 the hilt, Tsuba, the guard on the hilt, and Saya, the sheath, are 

 brought especially into consideration. 



The wooden hilt of a Japanese sword is about 15 centimeters 

 long, in the cross section a long oval, covered with grained shark- 

 skin or other decorations, and furnished further with the Me-nuki, 

 two little metal ornaments, each one of which is fastened nearly in 

 the middle of one side. At one end of the handle toward the blade 

 is an oval copper or bronze plate, the Habaki or throat ; on the 

 other end is the Kashira, the head, or Tsuka-gashira, a metal cap. 

 Lengthwise in the handle are two slots through which a strong 

 silk cord, almost a centimeter broad, is threaded. This is wound 

 around the whole handle in such a way that its two halves connect 

 ^ See Lyman : "Geological Survey of Japan, 1878 and 1879," P- ^3- 



