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It is abont three feet in length, and perfectly straight; the blade is some two and a-half inches in breadth, and the point somewhat heart-shaped. It is exceedingly heavy, double-edged, and engraved with various devices. This ‘ken’ is said to be between seven and eight hundred years old. The curved sword was worn swinging from a belt, to which it was attached by two strips of leather; it appears to have been a common style of war-sword, and was generally very short. The shape of the ‘katana’ was obtained by dividing the heavy ‘ken’ down the centre of the blade, thus producing two single-edged swords of more convenient weight. Besides these again, there is the ‘wakizashi,’ or short dirk, the custom of wearing which together with the ‘katana,’ as a sign of gentle birth, is said to have been introduced about the commencement of the Ashikaga dynasty, in the early part of the 14th century. The length of this dirk has of late years been gradually lessened to about nine and a-half inches. This is the weapon with which the ceremony of hara-kiri was performed, the dirk being then presented to the principal on a small square tray made of white wood, such as is used in temples. Hence the allusion, in a popular song written at the time of the recent Revolution,—“The gift I wish to present to my lord of Aidzu is ‘nine and a-half inches’ on a temple tray,”—meaning that the author of the song, who was evidently attached to the loyal party, desired nothing better than the death of the nobleman in question.
The names of noted smiths are many in number. The first who appears to be a really authentic personage is one Amakuni, who lived during the reign of the 42nd Emperor Mommu Tennô (about 696–707 A.D.) He is stated to have been a man of Uda in Yamato, and this circumstance, coupled with the fact of similarity of name, induces the belief that he was a remote descendant of that Amakuni whose name has been mentioned above as having made a sword in imitation of the Divine blade called “Clustering Clouds.” There are various tales of other clever smiths before the time of Mommu Tennô, but it
