Katana

A Katana

The Katana was a single-edged, curved Japanese sword. It was the Close-Range weapon of the Samurai, and was also seen at the beginning of the battle between the Mafia and Yakuza, being held by the first Yakuza member to be killed.

Description

The Katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single-edged blade; a square or circular guard; and a long grip to accommodate two hands. The blade is made from a specialized Japanese steel called Tamahagane, which combines hard, high carbon steel for the cutting edge and sides, and tough, low carbon steel for the core and back. This gives the blade a hard edge, while allowing it to absorb blows without shattering.

The gentle curvature of the blade adds to the weapons cutting power by focusing the force of the blow on a smaller area. This curve is achieved during quenching: the sword maker coats the blade with several layers of a wet clay slurry, putting a much thinner layer on the front of the blade. When the blade is thrust in water, the front of the blade cools more quickly and hardens, while the slower cooling in the back of the blade reduces lattice strain on the spine, causing the blade to curve backwards.

30 ins.

3 lbs.

Folded Steel

Use

The Katana is a slashing sword, although in several clips, the Samurai used it to stab an opponent to finish them off. The katana is worn at the waist with the "edge up" so that it can be drawn from the scabbard and cut the opponent in one swift motion.

In Show

In the episode Viking vs Samurai, the katana was tested against the viking great axe. The first test was on three poles called tatami poles which had the same density as human bone. He cut through all three in one swing, resulting in three kills in just under a third of a second.

It was then tested on a stack of pig carcasses to determine it's slashing power. In one downward slash, the katana cleanly cut through two pigs, earning it the title of a "Two Body Blade." After seeing this test, the viking experts said that the katana would need to be tested against a pig wearing viking ringmail. When tested, the katana made no damage against the pig, only managing to scratch the ringmail.