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Paper Crane Katana
and Wakizashi
Our Paper Crane Daisho
(SH2294-Katana / SH2328-Wakizashi) is without doubt the greatest
achievement in sword making artistry yet available from Hanwei. The
blade is crafted from Hanwei’s own Tamahagane steel (see below) while
the fittings reflect the atmosphere of the Japanese theater. The
Daisho’s name stems from the origami (the art of paper folding) cranes
that decorate the striking Tsuba and Fuchi/Kashira, all of which feature
highly-prized “Nanako” or stippled backgrounds. The Menuki feature
thespian masks, a symbol shared by the Japanese theater and its western
counterpart. The Saya of the katana houses a Kozuka (small knife) while
that of the Wakizashi carries a Kogai (hair pick) The Kozuka and Kogai
are decorated with musical instruments of the theater. The Paper Crane
theme is carried to the outstanding hand woven silk Sageo, the result of
many hours of skilled work on a hand loom.
Tamahagane steel is made by building and firing a Tatara, the
traditional Japanese sword-steel smelter. This charcoal- fired furnace
produces a very pure steel from iron sand, and this steel “Kera” or
bloom can be broken and separated into high- and low-carbon pieces,
which respectively form the “skin” steel and “core” steel of the
blade. The skin steel is forged and folded repeatedly, to remove slag
inclusions and voids and is then wrapped around the core steel before
the resulting billet is forged into a blade. Careful heat treating,
shaping and polishing reveals the tight “Hada” or layer pattern of
the blade and the white particles of the “Hamon” or temper line.
While this process results in the aesthetic qualities much admired by
collectors it also produces a very functional blade, as the high carbon
content of the skin steel makes a very hard edge possible while the
softer core steel gives the blade its resilience and ability to absorb
shock.
