December 6, 2011

The Sword Maker

Korehira Watanabe is one of the last remaining Japanese swordsmiths. He has spent 40 years honing his craft in an attempt to recreate Koto, a type of sword that dates back to the Heian and Kamakura periods (794-1333 AD). No documents remain to provide context for Watanabe’s quest, but he believes he has come close to creating a replica of this mythical samurai sword.

(via Product by Process)

posted by in interviews, products, sisyphean, video, wisdom | * | 2 comments 

comments

  1. Deron Bauman on December 6th, 2011 at 10:04 pm

    I just had a chance to watch all of this this evening. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Thank you.

  2. Daryl Scroggins on December 7th, 2011 at 4:31 pm

    Thanks, Sarah–this is great. I have watched such sword makers a few times, and I always loved the rhythm of the aprentice hammer-strikers. The maker’s subtle gestures, indicating readiness for a strike, can almost seem to vanish–like those of jass musicians who know when a change is in order. The best swords have a world in them.

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