Ganbatte!: The Japanese Art of Always Moving Forward by Albert Liebermann

Author:Albert Liebermann [Liebermann, Albert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Self-Help, Personal Growth, Happiness, BODY; MIND & SPIRIT, Inspiration & Personal Growth, Health & Fitness, Alternative Therapies, Business & Economics, Personal Success, General
ISBN: 9781462922703
Google: 1ZYqEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Published: 2021-10-12T23:55:01.551263+00:00

26

Katana: Aim for Beauty

The sword is a human creation designed to kill. There is no dispute about that. But like any element of craftsmanship, it can also be a work of art, especially the Japanese katana, regarded these days as more of a symbol and talisman than as a weapon.

A popular superstition has it that katanas are capable of banishing ma 魔 (evil, or evil spirits), and the higher the quality of the katana, the greater its ability to protect its owner. Even today, many Japanese families buy a katana when a new member of the family is born and place it in a prominent part of the house to protect the baby for the rest of its life. They are treated as treasures and inherited within families for generation after generation.

This superstition has influenced bladesmiths into following a style that creates ever more beautiful blades. Without this belief, perhaps the Japanese katana would have evolved into more functional forms, with the simple objective of being used in battle or as a status symbol.

Katanas are works of art that stand the test of time, but only the trained eye can differentiate between the edge of a blade forged by a master five hundred years ago and another by a contemporary master. The thousands of tamagahane (ferrous sand abundant in the Shimane prefecture) steel sheets are worked by the bladesmith for months until the desired finish is achieved. The resulting blade edges stand the test of time, over centuries or even millennia, like no other type of sword.

Yoshindo Yoshihara is one of the thirty remaining bladesmiths who make a living exclusively from forging katanas. It is a family tradition, and the knowledge has been handed down from fathers to sons. To learn the basics, he needed to understudy his father for decades. Now he is almost eighty and is regarded as one of the most valuable artists in Japan. Yoshindo Yoshihara has created several katanas to which he devoted years of work. They have become national treasures.

Why devote months or years of effort to a single katana?

For the Japanese bladesmith, the objective is to create something whose beauty can transcend the passing of time. That is why—apart from the artistic part—katanas have the most lethal and highest quality blade edges known to man. Because the craftsman spares no effort, and what is beautiful usually takes great work to create.

Humans can appreciate the effort, passion and care that have gone into creating something. If we do something quickly, looking for an easy functional result, we will only scratch the surface. And others will notice.

We are all artists in our day-to-day life.

For instance, we can decide whether or not to pay special attention when cooking a dish. The rest will notice this when they see it on the table. Presentation, smell, taste…; everything counts. You choose whether you want to cook quickly, just to feed yourself, or to cook to create something beautiful, meant to be savored.

Whenever we can, our human duty is to aim for beauty.

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