this period show only nobles and courtiers carrying swords, not warriors
using them in combat.
During the Heian period the capital was moved to present-day Kyoto
in Yamashiro province, and power shifted from the imperial family to the
Fujiwara clan. About the year 900, two powerful warrior clans—the Taira
(Heike) and the Minamoto (Genji)—arose. These clans vigorously fought
against each other (and even, on occasion, among themselves), stimulating
tremendous progress in the art of swordsmithing, which reached its zenith
during the closing years of the Heian period. The Yamato and Yamashiro
schools of swordsmithing predominated, with the Bizen style introduced
around year 990. These blades had an elegant shape, a narrow width com-
bined with a very deep koshi-zori(curvature at its deepest near the hilt),
and a great amount of fumabari (enlargement near the base) with small
kissaki(point). Usually the first 8 or 9 inches from the tip was straight.
The Kamakura period saw the imperial family becoming nothing
more than pawns of the warriors. As a direct result of the Genpei War be-
tween the Genji and the Heike(which becomes peiwhen it follows the n
of gen), a Seii-Taishôgun(Barbarian-suppressing Commander-in-Chief) es-
tablished his bakufû(literally “tent-government”—a junta) at the village of
Kamakura in Sagami province. The swordsmithing schools of Yamato, Ya-
mashiro, and Bizen dominated the craft with the introduction of the
Shoshû style in 1249 and the Mino style in 1320. These schools were the
“Five Traditions” of the Kotô period.
During 1274, Mongols—those fell horsemen whose depredations ex-
tended as far afield as Poland, Palestine, and Persia and who had even de-
feated the Teutonic Knights of Germany—crossed the Korea Straight and
invaded the Japanese islands. In all of Mongol experience, defending war-
riors fled away from them, but the Japanese bushi(warriors) ran toward
them. However, the incredible bravery of a samurai in the face of death, in
some ways his greatest strength, now proved to be his weakness. The tra-
dition of being first into battle and challenging a worthy opponent was
completely inapplicable to this foreign enemy.
The Japanese quickly learned that their swords literally bounced off the
tanned hide armor of the Mongols. One of the reasons was that Japanese
sword blades of those times had a good amount of ha-niku(meat-of-the-
cutting-edge), and their edges resembled miniature hatchets in cross section,
enabling them to whack through the stone-dust–encrusted lacquer of armor.
It must also be noted that pre-invasion times were peaceful, which always has
a tendency to stifle weapons technology. Finally, during the previous Genpei
War, swords were considered of secondary importance—a sort of sidearm,
subordinate to the bow and lance, the main weapons of battle. Hence these
blades tended to be rather lightweight. All this soon changed dramatically.566 Sword, Japanese