Where did samurai swords come from? Katana are known as THE sword of the samurai. However, it was by no means the only samurai sword. The history of samurai swords begins in the 8th to 9th century. Before that, Japan was mainly dependent on the dominant power in the region, China. During this time, Japan broke away from the complete [...]
Japanese culture is rich and has been an advanced civilisation for many centuries. Historically, Japan, like most countries in the region, was heavily dependent on China in the early days. As early as the 8th century, Japan broke away and developed its own culture. This Japanese culture has produced many well-known things that only [...]
What are katana? Katana are characteristic swords. They have single-edged blades with a curvature. The swords are worn tucked through the belt with the cutting edge pointing upwards. The blade length is more than 2 shaku (60.6cm). The mounting (koshirae) is often kept relatively simple and is less ornate than the mounting of the tachi, for example, a [...]
Bokken as a consumable Bokken, the wooden swords for kenjutsu training, are exposed to regular stress during training. Depending on the type of training, this load can be higher or lower. Bokken were and are therefore more or less a consumable item that is simply replaced at regular intervals. The names bokken and bokuto are used in this article because both are the [...]
Today we take a look at the story behind the world's most expensive samurai sword. At least the most expensive samurai sword in the world for which the price is known. Nihonto (Japanese swords) can sometimes be traded at very high prices. Many purchases/sales take place behind closed doors and the prices are not publicised. There are only [...]
Prehistory: Who ruled Japan? Before the samurai came to power in Japan in the form of the shogun, the imperial family ruled. According to the story, the imperial family was appointed by the gods themselves to rule over the country. This divine mandate grants the sole right to rule to the emperor. There are also [...]
Japan is the home of Japanese martial arts. It is in the nature of things that training swords from Japan are best suited to these arts. But apart from this obvious advantage, there are other points in favour of using bokken from Japan. Bokken from Japan belong to the higher price segment. The care taken in the manufacture [...]
The history of the world's most expensive katana The world's most expensive katana was forged in the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600), between the well-known Sengoku Jidai and the Edo period that began shortly afterwards. It was commissioned by Nagao Akinaga, the lord of Odawara Castle. A member of the influential Hojo clan. The sword, which later became the [...]
Popular New Year's resolution: Becoming more relaxed in everyday life Today (at the time of writing this article) is 1 January, so we would like to take the opportunity to look at typical New Year's resolutions. In a second article, we already took a closer look at the popular resolution to do more sport. In this article, we would like to [...]
Popular New Year's resolution: Do more sport Today (at the time of writing) is 1 January, so we would like to take this opportunity to introduce everyone who has resolved to do more sport in the new year to a sport that can have an extremely positive impact on their lives. Our website is all about [...]