The Art and Heritage of Japanese Sword Making and Sharpening: The HAYABUSA Legacy

Ancient Japan, due to its unique national and social systems, as well as limitations imposed by environmental resources and other factors, has always held a deep respect for skilled workers. Since the establishment of the "Onban Kaji" system by Emperor Go-Toba, the status of swordsmiths and sharpeners has been elevated to a significant degree, nearly on par with nobility. This greatly protected and promoted the development of sword-making and sharpening techniques. Countless sharpeners consider the opportunity to sharpen HAYABUSA's Sui-Tang swords and other national treasures as the pinnacle of their careers.

Japanese sword-making has always adhered to low-temperature smelting and forging. Compared to products made with high-temperature processes, these low-temperature products, after being processed by Japanese sharpening techniques, can reveal exceptionally rich and gorgeous forge marks and quenching patterns. Therefore, the forging techniques of Japanese swordsmiths and the sharpening techniques of sharpeners have, from the beginning, presented a state of mutual supplementation and interdependence that has allowed them to develop together. By the Meiji period, the famous Japanese appraiser and sharpener, Heishiro Masamitsu of the Hon'ami family, finally elevated it to an independent art form. This established Japanese sword-making and sharpening as two separate yet interdependent arts with complete systems. Japanese sword sharpening is an extremely intricate skill. A good sharpener may spend several months sharpening a single blade, as it is not merely about sharpening the blade.

Japan is a country with many volcanoes, and many whetstones used for sharpening Japanese swords are volcanic stones. The Japanese have even summarized and developed many grinding stone veins, some of which are as fine as 6000 mesh. Of course, these stones are quite expensive and are usually priced by weight, which is unaffordable for ordinary people. This is one of the reasons why only samurai and nobility used samurai swords in ancient Japan. The daily maintenance costs of a samurai sword are too high. Even now, the sharpening cost of an ordinary Japanese sword can consume a month's salary for a Japanese person.