The japanese sword is many things. Functionally, its deadliness is attested by countless episodes in which it has cut through iron armour to kill, and also by inscriptions on tangs certifying terrible testing procedures in which whole bodies have been cut in two at a stroke.

In all countries with a martial tradition the sword has been elevated to a symbol of temporal power and justice, and in many it has acquired a spiritual status. But in Japan it is more than this. It has been described as the very soul of the samurai.

The samurai's spiritual development was by means of Kendo ("The Way of the Sword"), or traditional swordsmanship. The sword was inseparate from the samurai. Part of his very character. The sword, the jewel and the Mirror constitute the three articles of the japanese imperial regalia-they are divine objects according to the Shinto religion.

The samurai lived inseparable from his sword, his most valued possession. He walked armed every day of his life, sat armed at the table, and went armed to the bed.

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