Why Katana are Made from Crappy Steel #Shorts

I question I often get from everyone is, “Why do you still use crappy steel (Tamahagane) to make katana in Japan?” I had an opportunity to ask actual katana swordsmiths this question,
and they told me these three reasons.

1. It wouldn’t be a katana
2. It’s high-quality carbon steel
3. Artistic coincidence

First of all, blades that are not made from Tamahagane can not be called a katana in Japan. In Japan, katana are defined as "works of art," so traditional materials and methods of making them are required.

Next, Tamahagane is not the best kind of steel, but as a carbon steel, it actually has a good quality. And carbon steel is a very convenient steel for craftsmen who make everything by hand, because it's easy to work with.

Finally, it is only because craftsmen make katana by hand using Tamahagane, which is not perfect steel, that artistic coincidence is possible. If katana were a uniform tool mass-produced in a factory, it would not be called a work of art. It is precisely because katana are believed to be the home of the gods that it is meaningful for craftsmen to collaborate with nature in their creation.

If you’d like to learn more about Japanese traditional culture, Kyoto, and social problems in Japan, please check out my channel & subscribe!

*The content is based on personal studies and experience
There is no intention of denying other theories and cultural aspects

▼My New Channel: Let’s ask Seki Sensei | Kobudo Asayama Ichiden Ryu▼
Are you a Japanese budo martial art lover watching this video? I am now running the best channel for you to learn more about samurai, katana, and budo martial arts from a Kobudo master who is running a 400-year-old Ryuha. Our goal is to achieve 100,000 subscribers by 2023, so please check it out!

▼Please support me through Ko-fi (a donation platform like Patreon)▼
The management (filming, editing, etc.) of the new Asayama Ichiden Ryu's English Channel "Let's ask Seki Sensei" is completely my voluntary work. If I am not able to pay for the expensive bullet train fare from Kyoto to Ibaraki Prefecture (where the main Dojo is located), and hotel/filming expenses, this activity will cease. Please help us spread and preserve this 400-year-old martial art. In return, I will try my best to create the most educational and exciting content about Japanese Kobudo.

▼The BEST online katana shop for martial arts (Iaido, Kendo, etc.): Tozando▼
Everything I use for my katana training is bought at this shop! I still use the first training katana I bought in 2016, and it is still in good shape!

▼The recommended online katana shop for decorations and cosplay: Mini Katana▼
*Get 15% OFF off all their products by purchasing through my affiliate link

▼Where you can meet me in Kyoto, Japan | Yushinkan Samurai Experience with Modern-day Musashi▼
A 90-minute experience in Japan where beginners can learn how to wield, draw, sheath, and swing the katana from the modern-day Musashi! I, Shogo, will be your interpreter to lead you into the wonderful world of samurai martial arts!

▼Let's ask Shogo Merchandise Shop▼
Where you can buy t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, etc. of cute Ukiyoe animal characters and logos of Let’s ask Shogo:

▼Who is Shogo? What is this channel about?▼

▼Related videos on this channel▼
-My Crazy New Challenges of 2023 | Great News for Budo Lovers
-Meet the Modern-day Miyamoto Musashi | Where You Can See Shogo in Kyoto
-My Battle Against My Sickness | Raynaud's Disease

▼MY DREAM▼
“To make every Japan lovers’ dream come true, by making Japan a more secure, comfortable, and safer place for everyone to visit, study, and live in”

▼Join our Membership▼
The ticket to the front row seats to Shogo's rapid adventure to make his dream come true! Through the limited videos and live streams, your ideas and opinions will be adopted for Shogo to make the right decisions for his challenges!

●Membership benefits
-Limited behind-the-scene videos every week
-Limited live streams every two weeks
-Priority reply to comments

▼Sub-channel: “Shogo’s Podcast”▼

▼Instagram▼
*Please ask me questions through the DM here!（⚠️I do not use e-mail）

♪Music♪
おとわび

♪Sound effects♪
効果音ラボ

♪Pictures♪
かわいいフリー素材屋 いらすとや

#katana #tamahagane #makingkatana

[LetsaskShogo]

▼My New Channel: Let’s ask Seki Sensei | Kobudo Asayama Ichiden Ryu▼
Are you a Japanese budo martial art lover watching this video? I am now running the best channel for you to learn more about samurai, katana, and budo martial arts from a Kobudo master who is running a 400-year-old Ryuha. Our goal is to achieve 100, 000 subscribers by 2023, so please check it out!

▼Please support me through Ko-fi (a donation platform like Patreon)▼
The management (filming, editing, etc.) of the new Asayama Ichiden Ryu's English Channel "Let's ask Seki Sensei" is completely my voluntary work. If I am not able to pay for the expensive bullet train fare from Kyoto to Ibaraki Prefecture (where the main Dojo is located), and hotel/filming expenses, this activity will cease. Please help us spread and preserve this 400-year-old martial art. In return, I will try my best to create the most educational and exciting content about Japanese Kobudo.

▼The BEST online katana shop for martial arts (Iaido, Kendo, etc.): Tozando▼
Everything I use for my katana training is bought at this shop! I still use the first training katana I bought in 2016, and it is still in good shape!

▼The recommended online katana shop for decorations and cosplay: Mini Katana▼
*Get 15% OFF off all their products by purchasing through my affiliate link

▼Where you can meet me in Kyoto, Japan | Yushinkan Samurai Experience with Modern-day Musashi▼
A 90-minute experience in Japan where beginners can learn how to wield, draw, sheath, and swing the katana from the modern-day Musashi! I, Shogo, will be your interpreter to lead you into the wonderful world of samurai martial arts!

▼Let's ask Shogo Merchandise Shop▼
Where you can buy t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, etc. of cute Ukiyoe animal characters and logos of Let’s ask Shogo:

▼Who is Shogo? What is this channel about?▼

▼Related videos on this channel▼
-My Crazy New Challenges of 2023 | Great News for Budo Lovers
-Meet the Modern-day Miyamoto Musashi | Where You Can See Shogo in Kyoto
-My Battle Against My Sickness | Raynaud's Disease

▼MY DREAM▼
“To make every Japan lovers’ dream come true, by making Japan a more secure, comfortable, and safer place for everyone to visit, study, and live in”

▼Join our Membership▼
The ticket to the front row seats to Shogo's rapid adventure to make his dream come true! Through the limited videos and live streams, your ideas and opinions will be adopted for Shogo to make the right decisions for his challenges!

●Membership benefits
-Limited behind-the-scene videos every week
-Limited live streams every two weeks
-Priority reply to comments

▼Sub-channel: “Shogo’s Podcast”▼

▼Instagram▼
*Please ask me questions through the DM here!（⚠️I do not use e-mail）

[Oppetsismiimsitsitc]

It's a cultural and artistic tradition going back hundreds of years. I'm a sword guy, martial artist and HEMA practitioner, and I can say that many HEMA practitioners wish that Europeans kept their martial traditions in the same way that the Japanese managed to.

[christopherbrown]

Let's just rename reason #1 to because it's illegal.

[jacobwisner]

I really appreciate how you've managed to turn some of the frequent questions you get into shorts like this. I think you've done a much better job than most in sort of leveraging your existing work/research for creating/editing for shorts. Great work Shogo!

[shinnchoo]

I can tell you... in one word! "TRADITION!"

[SuperTrunkspace]

Honestly, the fact that they turned iron rich sands into anything is basically a miracle. There is a LOT of work that goes into turning the byproducts of smelting into usable steel. In some cases up to roughly 90% of the material is taken away in the process, most of which is slag and impurities. European finery forges did much the same thing. It's remarkable to see the convergent design from the other side of the world.

[bbdf]

In regards for the „not real katana“ point: I am aware of several Shinken wich were purposely forged with European steel in the Edo Period. I doubt the Blacksmiths and Samurai wielding them would agree at all that these swords are not real Katana.

[LetsaskShogo]

I question I often get from everyone is, “Why do you still use crappy steel (Tamahagane) to make katana in Japan?” I had an opportunity to ask actual katana swordsmiths this question,
and they told me these three reasons.

1. It wouldn’t be a katana
2. It’s high-quality carbon steel
3. Artistic coincidence

First of all, blades that are not made from Tamahagane can not be called a katana in Japan. In Japan, katana are defined as "works of art, " so traditional materials and methods of making them are required.

Next, Tamahagane is not the best kind of steel, but as a carbon steel, it actually has a good quality. And carbon steel is a very convenient steel for craftsmen who make everything by hand, because it's easy to work with.

Finally, it is only because craftsmen make katana by hand using Tamahagane, which is not perfect steel, that artistic coincidence is possible. If katana were a uniform tool mass-produced in a factory, it would not be called a work of art. It is precisely because katana are believed to be the home of the gods that it is meaningful for craftsmen to collaborate with nature in their creation.

If you’d like to learn more about Japanese traditional culture, Kyoto, and social problems in Japan, please check out my channel & subscribe!

*The content is based on personal studies and experience
There is no intention of denying other theories and cultural aspects

[karlgustav]

Same with clay :-) There are lots of different clays in Japan, but real artists use it “nama” with its little stones and chips of rottet plants. It’s these impurities that if you are lucky create a “happy mess” like “ishihaze” (stone explosion) in the glaze. Some glazes like shino are not even possible without nama tsuchi. It is really beautiful to see it in forging as well, thank you!

[michaelschonhofen]

I would say, reason #4: Nobody uses an Katana as a weapon nowadays, just as an piece of art or for Iaido. So it would make no sense to change an tradition just for a better quality that is not needed.

[lukediehl]

They've actually done metallurgical analysis of swords from the Muromachi period, and found the steel to be roughly equivalent to modern 1055 carbon steel (if I'm remembering all the trace percentages correctly). It isn't the best steel in the world, but it's perfectly acceptable blade steel. Moreover, the form of the katana was optimized for the type of steel it was made from. The idea was to make the best possible sword from the available materials. The same steel would make a very poor rapier, but it makes a perfectly fine katana.

[Shadow_Architect]

People knowing nothing about a craft telling the craftsmen how they should do said craft will never not be annoying

[theredbar-cross]

The Japanese are really great at making their shortcomings sound like magic. The true art of Japan is marketing.

[aaronyoung]

For those who don't know, even Europe used bloom steel (same as tamahagane, just a different name) before they had the blast furnace.
The only areas that had the purest of steels were India and the Middle East, who liquified the metal in mostly air-tight ceramic cups, which allows all the impurities to float to the tip and be broken off later.

[TotallyNotPC]

Never knew there would be so much cultural and artistic value to a blade. both in ways of combat and the forging process. Thank you c:

[spiritof]

The mixing of steels is what makes the blades of Soshu Masamune so beautiful.

[gamersland]

I'm a Blacksmith and have looked into bladesmithing more than once, and I'd like to add. The tamahagane already comes mostly usable unlike some of the old European ways of steel production, making the steel way easier to turn from raw to blade. While modern steel is better, for making a sword from scratch use tamahagane.

[KaoticReach]

Cuz it looks cooler when it splits in half during a swordfight, cinematic and stuffz

[enderkatze]

That's alot of words For "We didn't have anything better at the time and now we stuck with it for Traditions Sake"

[Valscorn]

The government is why they are made from iron sand… basically.

It comes down to the laws regarding sword making.