Finding reliable history knowledge?

[Eiraha]

I have a question for you guys tied in to Historical Research.

I write articles for magazines as my job and recently got asked to write an 800 word piece on the Katana, it's history and how it tied in to Japanese beliefs and traditions. My only experience of this is pretty much Shogun and Shogun 2 via the information pages since my personal historical interest is mainly Neolithic Religion & Ritual. This would be ok, but the people reading this article are actually quite into Japanese history so if I put a foot wrong they'll know.

Everywhere I look on the internet tells me different stories, and trying to find a reliable source is like finding a needle in a needle-replica stack!

My question is - where is the best place to find reliable experts who know what they are talking about? Just basically someone who knows their stuff to give the article a once-over to check for any blatent inaccuracies like period dates and terminology. I assume Sega hired theirs from somewhere, but I don't have $$$ to throw around ^_^ The most I can offer is a thanks in the footnote, heh.

Any links would be appreciated, thanks

Oh, and if this is breaking any rules then just drop me a message and I'll remove it

[Heiro de Bodemloze]

http://www.military-history.org/arti...ord-katana.htm This one is pretty good. If you just google some I'm sure thatyou will find most of the information you are looking for

[Kissaki]

http://www.military-history.org/arti...ord-katana.htm This one is pretty good. If you just google some I'm sure thatyou will find most of the information you are looking for

Respectfully, I must disagree. First of all, that's not an article, it's a very short affair only five paragraphs long. Second, most of the information is wrong. As the article is so short, I can dissect it all right now:

"The Katana (sword) of the samurai warrior is one of the best-known edged weapons in world military history."

So far ok. It is one of the best-known swords.

"It is also probably the finest, being made using metallurgical skills based on tradition and observation, a process that has enabled 800-year-old swords to be preserved in perfect condition."

This is not true. First of all, it assumes that katana were of uniform quality, but quality varied all over the place, from the very, very good to the very, very bad. Second, it also assumes that the katana is one type of sword, but the design was subject to change over its more than 1000 year history. Third, even if katana were of uniform good quality, to say that they were the finest blades is completely unfounded. Remember that while we do have 800-year old (and older) blades preserved, we only have a handful of swords that old. Most swords from that time have not survived. And we also have swords that old survive from other parts of the world as well. The condition depends entirely on how well it has been cared for all those years.

"Created from iron sand drawn from river beds, a mass of raw iron was created that was successively beaten and stretched to produce a billet of steel from which the sword bladed would be hammered."

This doesn't begin to explain the process of creating steel, and the types of steel involved. The meagre description offered here is even misleading as to the actual process.


"Apart from low-grade daggers, a samurai blade was of a composite construction whereby a super-hard core was embedded partly within a more resilient and less brittle outer section. A wavy line along the blade indicated where the two parts met. When the sword was quenched, coatings of clay of varying thickness allowed the body to stay springy, so that as the cutting edge sliced through its target the body absorbed the shock of impact."

This is completely false. First of all, the core is SOFT, not hard. It's the EDGE you want hard, because the harder the edge, the sharper it can be. Katana could be laminated in several ways (if they were laminated at all - not all katana were). Here's a very nice image of the different kinds (colour coded, even):
http://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/im...aminations.jpg

As for the wavy line, the hamon, that has nothing to do with the lamination. The hamon, or the temper line (even though katana weren't tempered, strictly speaking) is created by the application of clay prior to the quench. When the blade is then quenched, the clay-covered part will cool more slowly than the edge, which is not covered by clay. This is what creates the pretty wavy line. Well, I say wavy, but it may be a great many different shapes:

http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/terms/togari.gif


"A skilled swordsman could deliver a killing stroke direct from the scabbard in one devastating swoop. Legend tells of one samurai who struck his victim so quickly and keenly that the man walked on for six paces before falling into two pieces."

Oh for crying out loud. No, that never happened. Maybe there is such a legend, but it sounds more like something out of a cheesy samurai flick to me. "Legend has it" -- don't. "Legend has it" that knights killed dragons as well. And while iai certainly allows for swift killing from the scabbard, there is nothing special about this. Attacks straight from the scabbard were done all over the world. And even in Iaido (which is often erroneously translated as "the way of drawing the sword", even though it doesn't mean that at all, or it'd be called "nuki-uchi do"), most draws from the scabbard are not to kill, but to force the opponent back (nuki-tsuke), and only then moving in for the kill. And Iaido is a fairly modern martial art at any rate, and not even meant to be a stand-alone art.


If you want good sword articles, head over to the Japanese Sword Index:


http://japaneseswordindex.com/nihonto.htm

But as the OP asks for information for an 800 word piece, I'd go over at Sword Forum International and ask the good people there. I haven't been there for a number of years, but if Guido Schiller or Paul Smith are still there, they certainly know a thing or two. But there are many experts on that forum.

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/forum.php

[Hatamoto]

If you want to read some proper history, I recommend reading some books written by Karl Friday and Thomas Conlan. Neither man is perfect (they both keep repeating poorly done research about Japanese horses for example), but their research still stands head and shoulders above 99% of the crap you find out there.

I recommend:

Karl F. Friday - Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan

Karl F. Friday - The First Samurai: The Life and Legend of the Warrior Rebel, Taira Masakado

Thomas D. Conlan - State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth-Century Japan

Thomas D. Conlan - In Little Need of Divine Intervention: Takezaki Suenaga's Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions of Japan



These books together will give you a much better background to understand the Samurai without all the ******** that has been added by later writers and poor historians.

[american samurai]

I have a question for you guys tied in to Historical Research.

I write articles for magazines as my job and recently got asked to write an 800 word piece on the Katana, it's history and how it tied in to Japanese beliefs and traditions. My only experience of this is pretty much Shogun and Shogun 2 via the information pages since my personal historical interest is mainly Neolithic Religion & Ritual. This would be ok, but the people reading this article are actually quite into Japanese history so if I put a foot wrong they'll know.

Everywhere I look on the internet tells me different stories, and trying to find a reliable source is like finding a needle in a needle-replica stack!

My question is - where is the best place to find reliable experts who know what they are talking about? Just basically someone who knows their stuff to give the article a once-over to check for any blatent inaccuracies like period dates and terminology. I assume Sega hired theirs from somewhere, but I don't have $$$ to throw around ^_^ The most I can offer is a thanks in the footnote, heh.

Any links would be appreciated, thanks

Oh, and if this is breaking any rules then just drop me a message and I'll remove it

Wikipedia has a good article on katana with references that can be checked http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana , and to talk to people who really know about Japanese swords you can ask questions at the nihonto message board. Some of the most well known researchers, collectors and dealers exchange information there and they are usually more than helpful to people looking for information.
http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewf...01821cbf0cecb2

[Hikaru Genji]

There is a lot of mystique and false information surrounding the katana, not the least of which is that it was the primary weapon of the samurai. Personally I would make a post here: http://forums.samurai-archives.com/

There are many who would be able to give you some reliable information and point you in the right direction. I'm sure someone would be willing to proof-read your article as well.

Best of luck!

[Drakken]

Samurai Archives.

[RubiconDecision]

While the OP has surely moved on to other things, I would advise anyone seeking specific information about Japanese history to narrow their search by naturally choosing a book on a Japanese katana sized weapons (there mere many within this range not just the katana) and so find out what you need. Picking some of these excellent sources mentioned here with give you general information.

The logical choice is the now deceased expert Kanzan Sato (first name, last name which is out of the normal Japanese order for names) who is extremely well respected. It depends upon what you are asking, doesn't it? How to make one? How to draw one fast? How to use one? How to use one from a cavalry mounted position? How to use one from a seated position? Etiquette rules for the katana?

The katana was not a battlefield weapon but a personal weapon of the Daisho (big-little). Many surprise attacks were conducted with a wakizashi because they never had to relinquish that weapon while the other they had to. As the shorter one was better for inside attacks anyway, it was often used. However a katana would often break under metal fatigue and a different weapon from the armory was used on the battlefield a subject discussed at length in the VV under nodachi.