Tentetsutou - The sword from a meteorite
The Tentetsutou (天鉄刀), which translates as "sword of heaven", is probably the most famous sword made by master swordsmith Yoshindo Yoshihara. Its entire blade is made from a fragment of metreoite mass. This comes from the Gibeon meteorite, which consists of 91.8 % iron. The first fragments of the meteorite were found in 1836 near the town of Gibeon in Namibia. Scientists estimate its age at 4 billion years.
According to some sources, fragments of the Gibeon meteorite were used by locals to make weapons and tools as early as the late 1830s.
The British officer and travel writer Sir James Alexander collected samples of these weapons on site and had them analysed by the renowned chemist John Herschel in London. It was possible to verify that the material used was meteorite mass that did not originate from Earth.
The sword is a true masterpiece of swordsmithing.
The elaborate inscription on the blade with Japanese characters and the hamon (hardening line) of the sword are particularly eye-catching. A sword out of this world!
It can be viewed in the exhibition of the Chiba Institute of Technology in the SkyTree Tower in Tokyo (http://www.it-chiba.ac.jp). In addition to the sword, a chunk of the Gibeon metreoite is also on display there to illustrate the material from which the sword was made. The Twitter user Zan_Woo shows us these images of the sword:
- ザン・ウー：亜人帽子の男 (@Zan_Woo) 10 May 2015
Who is the blacksmith of Tentetsutou?
Yoshindo Yoshihara is considered by many to be the best samurai swordsmith of our time. His particular concern is to preserve and continue the Japanese culture and traditions of swordsmithing. We have honoured him in our category "Famous Swordsmiths" with a own contribution dedicated.
Would you like to read more about the famous samurai swords of Japan? Then you will find more exciting articles here in our category!
Text sources:
http://www.samuraisword.com/nihontodisplay/other/Yoshindo/index.htm
http://www.toki.tokyo/experience/katana
