What is your favorite historical weapon? For more great videos on Japanese history, culture and Mythology check out Linfamy’s Awesome channel here: kzfaq.info/love/BkqDNqao03ldC3u78-Pp8g This video is an updated version of a video(New intro, drawings, captions and ending segment on the Daisho and larger sword versions) I made in collaboration with Linfamy last year that premiered over on his channel. Hope you enjoy :)

History of the Spork next?

So the sword was mostly used as a last resort. Samurais were typically mounted archers, never knew that until now. I learn so much from your channel man, it's always top notch in quality too.

*TOTAL WAR: SHOGUN 2* is free on steam until March and if you download it you own it forever. The DLC's are also on discount. :D

The war spork is by far my favorite weapon of fuedal Japan.

Everyone rants and raves about folded forge welding and differing hardness as if Europeans weren't doing exactly that 700 years before these types of Japanese blades existed. During the Viking Age some of the finest swords ever made were produced by Illiterate blacksmiths working on a stump anvil with a working surface half that of a modern brick - for all the guys getting into blacksmithing that think they absolutely must have a massive 300lb anvil.

"What does Katana mean?" "It means Japanese sword."

That last sword is so cool Especially how it was worn on the back

Me : *Fights samurai* Me : *breaks Samurai's Naginata* Me : "Haha! I beat you, surrender!" Samurai : *pulls out Katana* Me : *screams in agony*

No matter how familiar the content, you always manage to teach more than is known. Thank you teacher.

That is such a cool sword. Samurai are so interesting and I like learning a bit more about them. Awesome armor. *Hire a samurai*

Love the drawings especially the private armies beautiful just beautiful

Tang infantry also used something like a nodachi/odachi; it had a long handle with buttspike and could be stuck into the ground for easy retrieval for their vanguard combined arms infantry

The Katana has always fascinated me. I always thought it was the only sword used by the Samurai but I was wrong. I didn't even know they had a big Great sword.

The Samurai artwork is absolutely *amazing!* 👍

Who tf downvotes a video 40 second after it was released

Linfamy is another favorite channel. Keep up the great work, you two!

Katana's kanji is 刀 which is a Chinese word mean single-edge sword. it's interesting that Japanese swords were originally influenced by Chinese swords and then during the Ming Dynasty, many Japanese swords were captured by the Chinese military due to Wako pirates activity as well as the Korean war of 1590s, where the Japanese swords were taken by Chinese imperial army, they then incorporated the Japanese design back into some Chinese single-edge sword design haha.

I asked my Japanese teacher once, why Katana was similar to the Tang Dynasty swords, my teacher said the Chinese influenced the Japanese swords and after taking a closer look it has similarities. The Tang Dynasty influenced the Katana And the Japanese swords. If you check out the Tang Dynasty swords they have big similarities. Japan during the Tang were welcomed into the country and many Japanese took note of the Tang culture and tradition and adopted and refined it. They took note on the design and so forth and the sword was also exported. The Katana was the refined version of its ancestor, the Tang dao, the the Tang Dynasty Sword And first original.

Great video! I'm actually working on putting out my own Samurai Sword History video, cheers!

Ok! Now this explains why Zack's sword is facing up and Cloud's sword is facing down. History metaphor.

Thanks for this brief overview. Pretty cool and informative. I'm late to the party but hope you continue making many more of these!

Depends on which elemental stone they used.

"The Japanese katana is considered by many to be the finest class of sword ever made, unlike the Spork or Rubix Cube."

Thanks for the shout out! I like that sweet intro ;)

Cool vid! I hope you make more of these amazing vids!

Ooo do more weapons history! This was great! So much cool weaponry through time, this could be a little miniseries!

Woohoo! Another great Epimetheus/Linfamy collaboration!

It is also worth mentioning Nagamaki, afterall LOTR elven swords were based off them :)

Katana was made during the Heian period (794-1185). Blacksmith heaven (8c-9c) and Yasutsu Ohara (-987) made many swords. These are currently stored in the museum. Japan exported swords to the Song Dynasty. Song politician Ou Yan Shu (1007-1072) announced the poetry Japanese Katana Song. The contents of the poem praise the sword and Japanese technology. Since the sword was used in actual battle, it showed superiority and was also exported to the Yuan Dynasty/Ming Dynasty. There are records of watching actual battles among generals, martial artists, and missionaries, and it is said that katana is the best sword.

The katana truly was the samurai's lifelong companion

I thought the major difference between the tachi and the katana was the curve, with the tachi having more curve to be better suited for cavalry. I always assumed that katana evolved because it was better suited for use on foot, a more versatile sidearm instead of a melee backup for mounted archers.

Great video!

I wonder if the reasons the samurai started prefering shorter katanas was similar to why arming swords were so popular in europe, smaller and more convenient.

Déja vu, I loved your cross-over collaboration.

A few more differences: Katanas (I'm assuming due to their better use indoors) developed over time to have straighter handles while the blade itself retained its curve. The metal elements set on the handle of the tachi (known as Menuki) later saw themselves rearranged to be on the opposite side on Katanas. Some historians believe that this was to allow said ornaments to be displayed when sheathed the same as Tachi, but to ill effect. Whereas before the menuki would act as palm swells and add grip (especially for active samurai who would be wearing gloves in the field), now they would often add no sort of extra grip whatsoever except for the awkward placement under one's fingers. Tamehagane, which is the steel used in order to forge many japanese swords, was not in fact some kind of perfect metal. The folding process you often see ritualized thats used during the forging of these swords was used to help even the distribution of carbon and iron. If you used it on modern day steel today however, you would in fact more likely be making a weaker blade. The heating and reheating process needed to help fold tamehagane would burn off a sizable amount of carbon in the process; your modern steel would likely actually be more brittle after all is said and done.

This wideo was made by someone who has read many books, but held no swords

Great work Epimitheus. A video about the early indo-europeans europeans would be interesting as well.

I'm surprised you didn't go one step further in the evolution with the kyu-gunto which is a katana blade mounted of a bowl guard in the 19th-20th century.

0:38 - *Morpheus?!* What are you doing in Japan ?!

It's interesting that, like the classic medieval European sword, the most iconic sword in all the history of Japan, the legendary Kusanagi-no-tsurugi, is a single-hand, straight-bladed, double-edged sword. This is the sword that is connected with the story of the creation of Japan. Thank you for pointing out that the sword was not the Samurai's primary weapon. A typical weapons set would be yari(spear), katana and tanto(dagger).

Excellent choice for a collaboration. Linfamy is fuckin great.

Sand iron, which is the material of katana, is a good quality material with less phosphorus and sulfur. Phosphorus and sulfur are impurities that make steel brittle. In Japan, impurities were removed by the Tatara iron-making method, which was created from the 5th century. The Tatara ironmaking method uses the difference in melting temperatures of iron, phosphorus, and sulfur to remove impurities. Old craftsmen called the impurities Noro. The ingredients of tamahagane are carbon 1.36% silicon 0.03% manganese 0.01% phosphorus 0.029% sulfur 0.0026% copper 0.01%. The content of impurities such as phosphorus and sulfur in tamahagane is much lower than in modern steel. By removing unnecessary carbon by smithing, the carbon content is reduced to around 0.7%, which is suitable for katana and is not too hard. And the steel of katana is in a state where microstructures with different hardness, austenite and martensite, are dispersed. When katana is sharpened with a sharpening stone, austenite is easy to scrape and martensite remains, so it becomes like a "micro saw". The person who handles katana pulls katana at the moment of slashing. Today, in Japan, a special steel called Yasugi Specialty Steel is made from the method of making katana materials. This special steel has the same properties as katana, and since it is hard and elastic, it is used for various purposes. This special steel is high-speed tool steel, cutting tool steel, cutlery steel, electronics materials, high-grade kitchen knife materials, razor materials, automotive parts materials, automotive engine parts, aircraft engine parts, cutter for artificial satellite separations, etc. It is used for various purposes.

Hey this is a old vid but I really love your content!!!

New subscriber here. Your videos are gold.

It's intertesing that even though it was always around, it wasn't used that much in battle

Hello, I'm searching for further information on the web on the 812-814 Japanese smallpox epidemic mentioned at 1:38 in the video, any suggestions?

Hey I’d love you to do a fully fledged video on the Gauls and their other Celtic relatives (and perhaps make a note when taking about their origins that it is still uncertain whether or not they originally came from the western bell beaker complex, the Central European Hallstatt, or the earlier Central European Urnfield cultures)

I'd like to see a video on the Seax blade, or Bagh Nakh.

Thank you. If you are looking for content to make more videos, a deeper discussion of the Katana and its use and other attributes woud make a nice choice.

Interesting Video.

Sigh, i had hoped Epimetheus of all people you wold not make this mistake. Katana was used by anyone, all rank and file soldiers could use it as a side arm. The exclusive 'Samurai Sword' was the Wakizashi, that only the Samurai and higher ups could use, it was a shorter Katana. The main armament of a Samurai warrior was a ranged weapon, often a Yumi bow, then a polearm a Yari or a Naginata and then a sidearm a katana with a Wakizashi. (you mention that without emphasis) Stop associating Katana with a Samurai, it was not exclusive to them, it spreads the Western Holywood stereotype and association of the Western Knights's sword to Japanese culture.

Fuedal Japan: gives babies swords Modernday: gives babies iphones

I love your work so much! I had to tweet this out, thanks for doing what you do. Xoxo 💜💀💙

Hey I’m sorry to do this but as I said before I love your videos and I know you told me this earlier but I was busy with my college classes so I forgot but what platforms do you use I know photoshop is one of them. What were the others? P. S Polish saber would be a great video or any video on Poland.

Katana means "japanese sword"

I suppose weapons that are largely for slashing are going to be curved, particularly for quick, short engagements. Probably easier to draw out of a scabbard and strike in one movement. But for the classic duel, you wonder what the advantage of a straight blade would be.

Epimetheus, please make a video on the history of Burma.

Nice content, do a video about Filipino Swords like the Kampilan

Differential heat treating of swords predates the tachi and started in China

Answer: The Samurai Sword evolved from _Katana Kombat._ .... Please don't Google who that is! 😄 But if you did anyway, here is a bro fist, guys. 👊

Can you do one on the Khopesh?

I was hoping for a Metatron comment

History of the Shamshir/ Szabla next?

Interesting

The samurais really did always have their sword with them

Can you cover the history of indian arms?

You think you could do a video of the same type on black powder firearms in the near east/Europe? Interesting to see how they evolved in the Christian world and in the Muslim world

Guys total war shogun 2 is free now any if you download it you can keep it forever

Do the Ayyubid Dynasty next

I had no idea that the samurais rarely used the katana in battle

I've read/heard that the 1st Mongol invasion of Japan forced the Japanese to make their swords slightly shorter and broader due to encountering the stronger Mongol armour. I don't know how true this is.

Did emishi swords have an impact on the curved Japanese sword? I believe at one point the emishi were using single edge curved swords while the yamato used double edge straight swords.

Was the sword in the room when born was it supposed to be the one he used as an adult?

Always been fascinated by the Samurai! I need to start working on Season two of Historical Weapons tbh lol!

Can you do history of Peru 🙏🏽

I had always thought that the katana was the samurais main weapon

Don't forget the Shin Gunto!

A samurai, a knight of japan, rich and important people hired samurais. Poor and unimportant people who couldnt hire samurais didnt hire samurais.

Do a video on the more famous greek city states

Have you heard about the lands of akavir? I heard they used curved blades, CURVED BLADES!

Samurai jack....

20+YRS AGO BOUGHT A KANENAGA, KATANA & WAKIZASHI, WITH THE ALMOST NEVER TANTO! KEEP IN STORAGE(IN CALIFORNIA) AND SENT TO JAPAN TO HAVE CLEANED, RESTORED AND 'SHARPENED' ... EVERY 2 YEARS. THE LOVES OF MY LIFE, BUT I LIVE IN HAWAII AND, WELL STEEL AND HUMIDITY FIGHT THE NEVER ENDING BATTLE ... ID HAVE TO SEND TO JAPAN EVERY 6MOS.

ما رأيك في رحلة عبر التاريخ ؟؟ في دقائق قصيرة ننقلك لزمن مضى نستقيه مباشرة من كتابات من عايشوه! اكتشفوا هذا العالم الرائع من خلال قناتنا

Wasn't there a point in time where one of the Shogun or Emperor made a law to halt further progress of the Katana thus kept its iconic shape for more than 500 years alongside some weaknesses or faults that could've been fixed?

Was there ever a sword called the kodachi? I heard that it was just another name for the wakizashi but I’m not sure.

Can you make Cambodia history video?

Important to know not all katanas were made to the same standards. Various times throughout japanese history especially during times of war, when the demand was high, the quality of katanas and tachis was indeed lower also in battle no matter how well a weapon is made it is still quite common for them to break so they did not even need to be high quality.

Oh no! The naginata broke!! Poor samurai!

Please visit Micahistory 2, it would mean a lot!

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼⚔️🗡

I guess it was more ceremonial

Kampilan sir for next episode

Your speech plain and simple

The Katana is one of the best sword in human history.

Please sir make a video of chutia kingdom of India's history video👀

Japanese history is the best!

Great that you included the difference between Odachi and Nodachi.

Is it not also true that the Japanese had a lack of good iron suitable to make weapons from at that time?

If only my yari samuri actually pulled out their swords...