Japan’s greatest swordsmiths, Masamune and Muramasa, were not contemporaries, but there are several legends involving both of them. One tells of a competition in which each one forged a sword and lowered the blade into a river. Masamune’s sword seemed to be inert: fish swam up to it, the flowers floating in the river brushed by without harm. Muramasa’s blade, in contrast, cut everything it touched. The fish were split in two, the flowers sliced to ribbons, and the very air hissed in pain as the weapon cleaved it. A passing monk saw the display and chided Muramasa, pointing out [Read more…]
The blunted blade
Critique
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Sep 242009