Talk:Japanese sword/Archive 1
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I removed this bit...
- The Japanese sword blade was razor sharp on one side and blunt on the other. The sharp edge was made of almost 3000 layers of metal forged together, giving the edge great strength. The remaining body of the blade was soft in comparison, making the overall sword somewhat more flexible despite its hard edge.
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Because it's worded misleadingly and partially contradicts/partially reiterates the later Construction section.
My apologies if this text is not in the correct section. I noticed when reading this article, that there is a contradiction. Section 4.0 contains the statement " Contrary to popular belief, this does not result in super-strength of a blade. The process of repeatedly folding the blade is performed in order to purify the metal". This says that folding DOES NOT increase the katana's strength. However in section 4.2, it suggest that "Lastly, it (folding of the metal) strengthened the metal (perhaps by more evenly distributing the imperfections)." I am not sure which version of this is true, can anyone comment on this? Mushin 21:01, 22 May 2005 (GMT)
- Both versions are correct, although wording could be tightened. Folding will burn out some imperfections and homogenise the metal, both of which are likely to strengthen it somewhat, but they don't make it "super-strong" as many people seem to believe. Will tweak the wording a bit.
- Thanks for the edit, I think the article reads more consistently now. Mushin
Does anyone know the average number of times a blade would be folded? What are the typical ranges of folds? -- TOertel
- Blades were folded up to seven or eight times, which gives a few hundred (27 or 28) layers of iron and carbon, the result is a laminate that very closely mimics steel -- mike dill
- As for magical properties, see above.
See what above? Theres no reference to magical proerties anywhere in the article. DryGrain 09:49, 11 Apr 2004 (UTC)
the article states:
<<Though seeming to be an indestructable blade, if the sword is not wielded with proper technique, the edge can be easily warped or rolled from the cutting of nearly any material (soaked reeds for example) resulting in lower effectiveness as a weapon.>>
such fable-like statement seems questionable to me. It should be taken out. Or perhaps added such as "practioners belives that ..." Xah P0lyglut 18:39, 2004 May 3 (UTC)
Its a shame that while the WW2 composition table of metals is given, its not mentioned anywhere what (outside of ceremonial functions) the major use of the katana was during WW2; namely, the beheading of Allied POWs. But I can't see anywhere neat to add this info. Kudz75 04:04, 20 May 2004 (UTC)
- Perhaps someone could write a section on the history of the use of katanas, where their use by officers in WWII as a badge of office, a battlefield weapon, a prized trophy of Allied solders, and yes, as a tool of execution would be well worth a mention along with the rest of the history of the weapon. Just as long as we avoid PoV, of course. --Paul Soth 17:53, 24 Jun 2004 (UTC)
- While I'm unsure if the katana was used for such executions in WWII, the wakizashi has been the traditional blade for decapitating prisoners or performing the final cut for seppuku. I know they continued using the wakizashi is such a fashion until the 1900s, so it may have been those swords instead of the katana. Also, most WWII katanas were typically machine manufactured and, while functional, were of poor quality compared to the handmade family swords. They were typically issued to NCOs and general officers. There are a few swords that were handmade during this period, but usually using the non-traditional methods.
Should This Katana topic have added to it something about the Bokken or Bokuto? the wooden sword that the Samurai trained with?
Someone rather bizzarely replaced the Myths section with a translation in French. Reverted to the English language version as this is the English wikipedia --kudz75 07:01, 24 Jun 2004 (UTC)
<<if the sword is not wielded with proper technique, the edge can be easily warped or rolled from the cutting>>
My understanding is that the ha is prone to chipping rather than rolling due to it hardness (hence the use of niku to alleviate this).
- Maybe someone would like to contribute more to the methods of how the swords were worn? There is a bit of information on it in section 3.4 (Classification by mode of wear), but I for one have never quite been able to understand the bit about 'buke-zukuri'. It has always confused me as to how the blade is situated on the body. I think it'd be nice if someone could contribute more to this area, or at least referrence to a page explaining more about the modes of wear. - Jacon M