While we were chatting, the iron that Mr. Matsunaga set off on his own to pursue the tradition of sword making over the next 41 years. After a 5 year training period and several tests to verify his ability, Mr. As a child, his interest in sword-wielding martial arts leads him into an interest in learning how to make the sword itself. Matsunaga Genrokuro of Arao, Kumamoto, has been practicing Japanese sword making for over 40 years. Though the 1868 Meiji Restoration brought the end to the feudal era and the samurai class with it, the practice of making katana swords survived, and still continues today. With a law that effectively made the samurai the only members of society permitted to carry swords, the katana became the physical manifestation of samurai status. The Edo era of feudal rule in Japan between 16 saw the samurai class rise to power. As the craft advanced into this modern era, the world never forgot the swords’ intrinsic ties to the samurai who wielded them over a century and a half ago. In fact, never in a million years would I have thought that I would meet one, invited into his workshop, and be shown a glimpse into the centuries-old tradition of Japanese swordsmithing. It’s not every day that you get to see a Japanese katana swordsmith at work. Matsunaga of Arao, Kumamoto leads us into the elusive world of katana sword making. That is, until one stormy day, while the furnace roars and hammers clang, Mr. “Strike while the iron’s hot.” I always knew what this meant, though never witnessed it in its complete, literal meaning.
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