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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2009 21:08:11 GMT
Kazari Tachi
Made by: Zhou Zheng Wu Knife & Sword Company Purchased through: Ronin Swords Opening:This all has been a learning experience for me, i ended up learning a lot in the process of searching for information on these type of tachi. But alas i am still no expert, so please bear with me if i got some details or terminology wrong. I will try my best... Awhile back i was talking to Mr. Brian Dreier, at which time he informed me of this wonderful tachi he had acquired from the Zhou Zheng Wu Knife & Sword Company. This was a sword that i expressed a strong interest in due to its very unique construction and raw beauty. Brian decided to sell me the sword, and it was at that point were the history lesson began... History: THe direct translation of "Kazari Tachi" is "Decorative Tachi". These were worn by the highest ranking court nobles and is one of the earliest style Japanese swords, along with Hoso-Tachi (narrow tachi) which was a less decorated (and thus more affordable) substitute of Kazari-Tachi still worn by high ranking court nobles. Swords of these types were usually used for ceremonial purposes, were luxuriously mounted and mostly came with non-functional blades. These swords were so expensive that only the very wealthy could afford them. Popular during the latter half of the Heian Period in the 12th century, they were often elaborately adorned with decorative fittings laced with gold accents, semi-precious stones & mother of pearl inlay. At that time in history Samegawa was rarely used in handles, and for entire saya & handle to be covered in samegawa was considered a luxury only attainable by people of wealth... Today there are several surviving examples of Kazari Tachi that were either excavated from ancient burial mounds, or maintained for centuries by religious temples. The Tokyo National Museum has at least two examples of near perfect condition kazari tachi in their exhibits, and are considered National Treasures. Production:The top smiths of Zhou Zheng Wu decided to make a limited run of these swords, and it is my understanding (but not confirmed) that the mountings were all cast from an actual surviving tachi to assure the utmost accuracy in detail. Less than 50 were made of this sword, which is classified as a kiri-ha-zukuri. Severe attention was payed to the fine details and functionality of the sword. Blade:The blade is a kiri-ha-zukuri, these were believed to be made during a transition period of thrusting/stabbing swords - to - cutting/slashing swords, thus the single edge design with stabbing tip. Later tachi had straight single edged tips with the mune continuing along the entire blade as the focus leaned away from stabbing and towards cutting. I am not sure if the geometry of the blade when transitioning from the tapered cutting area to the upper body can be called a shinogiji? I am not entirely sure if the exact same terminology was used back then, but for the sake of the review i will say that the upper "shingoji" area is massive! The blade is very beefy, very heavy, with all that solid body mass between the shinogiji and mune, and running down nearly the entire sword. The blade is high carbon steel, forge folded 1070 outer steel skin laminated with medium carbon steel inner core. Hand forged, clay tempered and water quenched. The hamon is suguha and very subtle, with an HRC of 56 on the cutting edge. The blade is 28"'s, the handle is 10.2"'s, the weight is 2.3kg's, and the overall length is 42"'s... This sword is #0009, and was finished on the 30th of March, 2007. Availability:Unfortunately these swords were made in such a limited run that none are available today through the forge. Overall i am very impressed with the level of workmanship coming out of the Chris Zhou forge, and it has been a real treat studying and learning about this blade. Sometimes when your holding it you forget that it was only made a year ago, and that speaks volumes about the level of detail put into this piece. Which makes it no surprise that this sword retailed for over $900. Thoughts:I realize this is an incomplete review, and i was conflicted about even posting it due to the swords not being available anymore, i honestly don't want or expect review points for this. But i simply wanted to share with you all this sword, if for nothing more than to show some of those who think "no good can come from Chinese forges" that there are in fact exceptions... And i would call this one very nice exception... I also hoped to shed a little light on an often over looked time period in Japanese history, long before the katana as we know it today was the predominant sword of choice (many know this history, but many do not). Back when the straight sword was the revered weapon of the land, and only those who possessed such a sword as the Kazari tachi would have any proof of their existence as an Imperial Court member... Thanks for reading folks...!
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Marc Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Jan 21, 2009 21:36:11 GMT
Excellent...
Beautiful sword , and great info James !!!
While I am far from an expert it is not everyday I learn some thing new on the forum...
Great stuff.. thanks for the enlightening post and pictures
+1 for sure
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Post by genocideseth on Jan 21, 2009 21:42:37 GMT
Wow! Nice review and stunning photos! +1 karma for you!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2009 21:45:45 GMT
Thanks for sharing this with us Jim +1 from me to you.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2009 21:54:20 GMT
Great review ( story? ) Jim. Learned some things, got to see ( heck, I didn't know such a sword existed and even if I were to see a photo somewhere I'd think that's a Chinese sword ) some very interesting sword so, like other did, +1 from me. Well deserved, if you ask me.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2009 22:17:05 GMT
Hey thanks guys/gals...!
Marc, Seth, djmahoney, bytheway, you guys are too kind...
Glad that you liked the review. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2009 23:12:12 GMT
Very interesting.... overview (if you don't want to call it a review ) of a very beautiful and interesting sword. Thank you so much for sharing it with us! I'd give you +1, but I've just given a karma to someone else . I'll try to remember to do it when I recharge... Again thanks! Beautiful sword, great pictures, fascinating story! Cheers Marc E
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Marc Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Jan 21, 2009 23:25:58 GMT
You know Jim, the more I look at it... the tsuba, fuchi gane and kuchi gane remind me of an efu tachi...
neat stuff
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2009 2:25:37 GMT
Yeah that is interesting... I believe efu tachi is another name for hoso tachi, which is a more narrow tachi that would have been less extravagant. But i am not 100% on any of that... I will say that you raise an interesting point though, because of all the pictures of surviving kazari tachi i have seen the swords look very narrow. So it makes me wonder if real kazari tachi were this narrow, how much more narrow would a hoso tachi have been? Maybe its just the way the pictures were taken? When i look at the castings of the big collars, i think they are called nagakanamono? There are big bumps, which i could guess would have been where precious stones would have been set in place. So there is no doubt that the original must have been quite amazing to say the least. This entire sword also seems a little more "stout" than those original kazari tachi that i have seen. I would say that they did a fantastic job getting close to the beauty of the surviving swords, but i know that nothing could match the beauty of the pieces in the Tokyo museum. Here's some pictures from the Tokyo National Museum that show just how detailed these swords really were! Makes me wish i had a time machine, so i could go back and have one of these commissioned. Here's an interesting link: www.arscives.com/historysteel/japanesekoshirae.article.htmIt would be cool if we could figure this out, i find this kinda fun to be honest. Kazari tachi - Tokyo National Museum
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Marc Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Jan 22, 2009 2:41:16 GMT
THE "EFU" TACHI IS A HYBRID OF THE VERY FIRST TACHI'S OF PURE JAPANESE DESIGN. THE "KARA - TACHI" APPEARED IN THE HEIAN PERIOD 646 ~ 794 AD. THE KAZARI TACHI CAME INTO BEING DURING THE EARLY HEIAN PERIOD 794 ~ 1185 AD. THE KAZARI TACHI WITH IT'S JEWEL ENCRUSTED SOLID GOLD ( FOUND IN THE HIGHEST GRADE SWORDS ) FITTINGS ( KODOGU ), IS EXTRAORDINARILY ATTRACTIVE, AND WAS THE WEAPON OF THE DAY FOR THE "OFFICIAL IMPERIAL GUARD". HOWEVER, THEY PROVED TO BE SOMEWHAT CUMBERSOME ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE, OR IN NEUTRALIZING AN ASSIGNATION ATTEMPT IN THE COURT OF THE EMPEROR CIRCUMSTANCES DEMANDED, THAT A NEW TACHI WHICH WOULD PRESERVE THE DIGNITY OF THE COURT, YET BE MORE AMENABLE TO COMBAT SITUATIONS, BE DEVELOPED. THE "EFU -NO- TACHI" WAS CREATED, OVER A PERIOD OF MANY YEARS DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE HEIAN, AND THE EARLY KAMAKURA PERIOD 1185 ~ 1332 AD. IT UTILIZES THE "SHITOGI" STYLE OF TSUBA, THIS IS STYLED AFTER THE "SHITOGI" RICE CAKES, THAT ARE USED AS A SACRIFICE TO BUDDHA. THE EMBELLISHMENT OF GOLD, AND JEWELS HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLY REDUCED, MAKING IT LIGHTER IN WEIGHT. THE ORNAMENTATION IS MAINTAINED AT A LEVEL THAT PRESERVES THE DIGNITY OF THE KAZARI TACHI. THE "EFU TACHI" IS CONSIDERABLY MORE TACTABLE, AND THEREFORE MORE EFFECT. THE USE OF ABALONE SHELL INLAY IS REMINISCENT OF THE JEWELS IN THE KAZARI TACHI AND IS TERMED "RADEN". JEWEL LIKE PEARL, OR ABALONE INLAY IS USED PRIMARILY ON SWORDS THAT ARE INTENDED FOR CEREMONIAL ( "GI-JO" ) USE. THE "EFU" IS STILL IN USE TODAY, IN THE "IMPERIAL COURT", AND FOR FORMAL CEREMONIES. THE OFFICIAL CEREMONIAL SWORD'S FOR BOTH THE CORONATION OF "CROWN PRINCE HIROHITO", AND FOR THE ENTHRONEMENT OF "EMPEROR HIROHITO", WERE BOTH "EFU TACHI'S". - samuraisword.com A link to a beautiful efu..... www.nihonto.us/EFU%20NO%20TACHI.htm
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Post by shadowhowler on Jan 22, 2009 4:39:31 GMT
A very beautiful and unique sword Jim... I recall that way back the Japaness used stright swords that were much more like the weapons of the chiness then the katana we are all familer with today... but I have not seen a modern example of such a sword before.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2009 5:36:13 GMT
Jim: Ok now I officially hate you! (not really ) That sword is one in a billion and you lucky dog you snapped it up. I hope that they start to make more of these beautiful and lesser known blades in such an exquisite style. Whilst I don't like the gaudiness of the piece it really is an exceptional blade and stupendous fittings. Great buy
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2009 6:42:39 GMT
WOW!!!! That is gorgeous!!!! (First sword that ever had me staring slack-jawed.)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2009 7:02:05 GMT
James: Did you cut into one of your books? Or is that an optical illusion? I am thinking optical illusion.
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Post by randomnobody on Jan 22, 2009 7:10:09 GMT
It's a reflection, 'wraith. Pretty sword.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2009 13:59:01 GMT
Very good and informative review James. Well worth the read on the history lesson. Thank you for sharing your findings with us. I did enjoy reading your review.
You wrote in your review that this Tachi is 2.3kg. That's 5.07lb!! That is a very heavy sword for it's size!!!!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2009 16:46:56 GMT
Thanks guys for the feedback, i really appreciate everyone taking the time to read the review...
Poohze: Don't worry about the karma, the compliments are more than enough! Thanks though...
shadowhowler: This is the first modern example i had ever seen as well, that is why i knew i must have this sword. I hope to see more examples of these in the future.
pogo4321: lol, thanks for that! usually people always remember the first sword that had them jaw dropped. That's a heck of a compliment!
BW: Yeah, randomnobody is right, its the reflection. Pretty weird looking isn't it.
wizzbang: 5lbs. sounds about right, this thing is very heavy, at least as heavy as 2 standard katana of similar length.
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Post by randomnobody on Jan 22, 2009 20:18:21 GMT
I'm not surprised on the weight. Note that part of the history even says the things turned out to be too darn heavy for any practical use. These are primarily for show, it seems, and they do a fine job of that. Reflection sure was quite the illusion.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2009 20:42:35 GMT
I am going to try and get some weight measurements on both the sword & saya. I am willing to guess that the scabbard weighs as much as a full length katana without hi...
Randomnobody, you are absolutely correct about them phasing out the decorative mountings in situations where they needed practical arms. These swords often had two sets of koshirae, one for ceremonial/decorative purposes, and another for actual battle purposes.
I heard it said that these tachi (when in decorative mounts) were too heavy and impractical for the security forces close to the emperor & other important members of high society to defend against any assassination attempts. And that they eventually carried much more streamlined versions which were more suited for use and not so focused on just being pretty...
Can't remember where i read that? I know it was someone with a doctorate in Japanese history though... Just can't think of his name?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2009 6:20:23 GMT
I keep coming back to this thing to stare at it.
You are a lucky dude, James.
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