Amakuni Yasutsuna (天国) was a Japanese swordsmith who lived in Uta in the province of Yamato in the 8th century. According to legend, he is the inventor of the Japanese art of swordsmithing single-edged, curved long swords. He and his son Amakura were the heads of the imperial swordsmiths and were responsible for supplying the imperial troops with weapons. Some claim that Amakuni was the smith of the famous Kogarasu Maru (小烏丸) sword, which is now part of the Japanese national treasure. However, the existence of Amakuni itself is disputed and cannot be clearly proven.
The legend of the world's first katana
The prehistory
Normally, warriors returning from battle greeted the imperial blacksmith Amakuni in a friendly manner when they passed his forge. One day, however, the emperor and his troops returned from a battle and did not give him a glance. Amakuni felt bad and ashamed about this. His heart sank when he saw the badly damaged and broken swords of the warriors.
Together with his son, he collected the damaged swords and inspected them in detail. They noticed that the swords were no match for hard objects such as the armour of opponents or their weapons due to a lack of blacksmithing skills. With the humiliation of the imperial troops in mind, Amakuni vowed: "I will forge a sword that is indestructible!".
Amakuni locks himself and his son inside
Determined, Amakuni locked himself and his son in his forge for a whole 7 days and 7 nights. There they prayed to the Shinto gods. On the 7th and final night, the two finally had a dream together. In it, the gods revealed to them the single-edged, curved sword. When they woke up the next morning, they knew immediately what to do.
Amakuni then looked for the best iron ore sand available in the area and processed it into steel. He and his son then worked without a break and without speaking for a whole 31 days. Then the sword they forged finally resembled the one in their dream.
The world's first katana
Tired and exhausted, the two then left their forge. But in their hands they held the world's first katana.
The other swordsmiths in the area took a close look at the sword they had created and thought they were crazy. They said the sword would not survive a single attack.
However, Amakuni and his son were not deterred, polished their sword and perfected their new forging skills over the next few months. They repeatedly presented the best swords to the emperor and his troops.
The acid test
The following spring, a new war broke out and the imperial troops were equipped with Amakuni's katana. When the troops returned, not a single sword was broken. As usual, the emperor and his troops passed Amakuni's forge. But this time the emperor smiled at him and said: "You are truly a master swordsmith.".
Amakuni's fate
According to legend, Amakuni achieved immortality in the following years due to the large amount of blood shed by his swords.
You can find more articles on Japan's most famous swordsmiths here here.
