No Razors, But Still...

Pretty darned cool.

Last weekend the family (wife and mother-in-law) piled into the car and hit the road. We headed North and East, out past Hiroshima towards the Japan Sea. It was new territory for us, far from the cities we usually choose. And it was glorious. We had to just stop along the mountain highway and take in the scenery a few times. I sometimes forget what a beautiful country this really is, when you get past the ugly concrete and ubiquitous power lines.

Past Hiroshima we went to a small city called Miyoshi, to have lunch at a winery, of all places...

Lunch was meh, but the wine was nice so all in all it was a winner.

Then we drove into the mountains to a campground where we rented a little cabin for the night.

(Ours is on the right)

The air was clean and clear. I don't exactly live in the big city, but the Seto Inland Sea side of Japan is the industrial center, and it clearly has an effect on the environment. But the mountains in the middle are still so clean...

Next morning, we all got up early and headed for Okuizumo, in Shimane prefecture. Izumo is historically known for its steel production, and there are a number of museums and organizations dedicated to the history of steel in Japan. In fact, there are at least two groups in Izumo that occasionally smelt Tamahagane steel in the old way, in the huge clay smelting ovens called "Tatara."

(This is outside the museum, a steel sculpture of the legendary 8-headed dragon "Orochi.")

And where there's steel, in Japan there are blades. And in Izumo, there are BIG blades.

This is a (forbidden...) shot inside the "Okuizumo Tatara and Japanese Sword Museum."

As the name says, it's dedicated to the swords and the steel they're made from, particularly those of the Kobayashi family, a local sword-making clan.


At the museum, we actually got to see Sadatoshi Kobayoshi the younger (he works under his father's name, it's not an uncommon practice for someone who establishes a reputation in a field to pass his name to his successor, like a brand almost) begin work on a sword in his forge.

He started with a raw tamahagane bloom, like this one my wife is holding:

The smaller rectangle to the left is the original bloom, worked into shape. Here, he and his young assistant are trying to weld the piece to a longer bar for further working. It took two hours to get to that point; making a full sword can take two weeks or more.

There were examples of the various steps in the process:

It is simply amazing how much work and skill go into making one of these. And that's not even taking the honing and polishing into consideration...an entirely different skill set, and one I'd truly love to see.

His equipment was an interesting mix of modern and traditional. He used an electric hammer for the heavy hammering, but handheld ones for the folding and finer shaping. He had an electric blower to heat the metal, but also had a hand bellows installed for more precise temperature control.
You can see him work the bellows above.

He had an apprentice present, and one beginning sub-apprentice to do the grunt work--carrying coal, cleaning tools, etc. It takes 5 years of work and study to become an apprentice, then another 5-10 years of training before you can take the exam to get your sword making license. The Japanese government strictly controls the making of swords, as they are usable weapons, though they have taken a much more artistic role in modern Japan.

Kobayashi-San himself was a very friendly, personable man-he didn't mind all my questions, and even talked razors with me, although he doesn't make them himself. His sub-assistant has studied with Iwasaki, though, and was quite familiar with their making, though he was afraid to try himself. The blade is too thin, he said, too easy to break.

For a blacksmith, I can see that...
It was a real pleasure meeting Kobayashi-San. I wish i had the $10,000 or so it would take to buy one of his swords. I can't even afford his $200 tamahagane paper knives!

It was an awesome trip and one I'll have to repeat someday, hopefully sooner than later.