The Katana
The Katana: A symbol of Japanese Culture and Budo
“I make ‘mushin’ (absence of mind) my sword.”
– excerpt from The Samurai Creed, author unknown, circa 1300
The katana, or sword of the samurai, rose to prominence in the hands of the samurai class during Japan’s feudal era, under the rule of the shogun and daimyo; yet the significance of this fantastic martial instrument survives to this day.
The Japanese are a people who place special emphasis on the perfection and efficiency of their craft, ceremony, and etiquette. Whether it is the placement and angling of a certain cloth on the table during chado (tea ceremony) or the designing of an automobile engine, falling short of the utmost standard is simply not an option. Famed Japanese philosopher Inazo Nitobe stated in his 1899 work Bushido: The Soul of Japan, a deeply insightful examination of the prevalence of the way of the warrior in modern society that “etiquette and knowledge of etiquette is connected to improved competency”.
We can infer that such attitudes towards work and activity spring partly from bushido. The warrior culture survives in contemporary society manifested in the martial arts, and generally, it is woven into the very fabric of Japanese society.
Fast, efficient, and powerful weapons have been developed for millennia since sophisticated weaponry began developing near the Bronze Age. None, however, can approach the sublime nature of the katana. The only aspect of the weapon that surpasses its light weight, efficient curvature, and seemingly invisible blade is the symbiotic and philosophical relationship the wielder shared with it. There was no need for the samurai to be more then arm’s length away from it at any time, and was very much an extension of self.
Completion of a single katana is a professional process. The heating, forging, sharpening, and beyond could take several weeks. The building of a katana could very much be paralleled with refinement of the self and it is a universal adage amongst many martial traditions that the best sword is created over a long time under heat and pressure; the same applies for people.
The commitment of the samurai, or “those who serve” is especially prevalent in the Japanese workforce. Morning meetings in countless offices, firms, and factories are conducted as team-oriented events that reaffirm their vision and goals. Falling asleep at one’s desk is not frowned upon, but quite the opposite, as it is an indication of working hard until exhaustion!
In the budo perspective, Shoshin Nagamine Sensei had this to say about the practice of karate-do:
“Karate, like all things classical, has the potential to meet the demands of various ages and to produce something new out of itself without rejecting the basic elements upon which it was founded.”
In the dojo, we may look to the katana as a reminder of a commitment to perfection of character. You don’t need to attend a work pep rally or fall asleep on the job, but we can learn much from study of the Japanese ethos. From the samurai creed (see one of its tenets at the top of this blog), to the deep philosophy of setsuninto-katsujinken (the life-giving and life-taking sword, which is best left for another blog post), emulating one’s own life refinement to the crafting of a katana is worth consideration.