K A T A N A (sword)

Senryu

Author's Note

The Katana … widely recognized as the Samurai Sword.

Japanese sword-making eras:
Jokoto (ancient swords, c1300 B.C–900 A.D.)
Koto (old swords from c900–1596)
Shinto (new swords 1596–1780)
Shinshinto (newer swords 1781–1876)
Gendaito (modern swords 1876–1945)
Shinsakuto (newly made swords 1953–present)

From 1945–1953, sword-making in Japan was banned.

Constructive critique is always welcome. : )

Reviews

[lightsong]

Katana and Cherry Blossoms, two main symbols of Japan, at one time, in one piece... can't I but to adore and fall in love with it?! how brilliantly is to use that photo to Your breathtaking words, yes, they took my breath with the firm powerful sheer brilliance, like this Katana crossed my spirit as the wind, and bloomed each shattering piece of me...

[Richard🖌]

I know you mean "Katana and Cherry Blossoms", Dear Gh, and how deeply your beautifully bountiful, knowing words of emotion, appreciation, respect, and understanding cut into my martial artist's core … a poem within their own divinely sweeping touch.

Most gratefully, most humbly … I bow🌸 ⁓ Richard

[lightsong]

Hhha yes, Katana of course, mistaken it to the Japanese name (Kanata) lolll

a secret, I always wanted to be a ninja or something like that lol, don't tell Your martial artist's core OK?

Yes, again I say I ADORE this piece of real art, more than my words are able to convey.

I bow, to the warrior spirit of Yours, that could easily poured herself into these ravishing words.

[Richard🖌]

Um!
With the depth of your spirit, Gh, I know you'd be a glorious master Ninja*

[Red Brick Keshner]

Much enjoyed this haiku, Richard!

[Richard🖌]

So glad you did, Frederick.
The Zen of peace be with thee! ⁓ Richard 🙏

[Susan 🦋]

I don't know too much about the subject matter, but I appreciate the beauty and spirit associated with it.

[Richard🖌]

Thank you, Dear Poetess, for selecting this Senryu in homage to the Japanese sword, the Katana.
read moreThank you, Dear Poetess, for selecting this Senryu in homage to the Japanese sword, the Katana.

In Japanese, the word, Samurai, literally means "warrior or knight."
Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern feudal Japan from the late 12th century to their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the Daimyo*. They had high prestige and special privileges, such as wearing two swords and a knife: the long Samurai Sword or Katana (for fighting at arm’s length), the middle length sword or Wakizashi (for in-close fighting), and a personal short knife, the Tanto (for penetrating armor, carving, general use, and for committing ritual suicide by disembowelment (Hari-Kari or Seppuku).

These two swords and short knife are made by skilled master swordsmiths, who heat, fold, hammer, and cool by dipping in purified water (tempering) thousands of times before finally grindingit to shape and honing one edge to razorsharpness.
The Katana blade is generally 28-32” in length, the Wakizashi blade is 20-24” in length, and the Tanto blade is 6-12” long.

A Samurai Sword or Katana and Wakizashi are wonderfully delicate and complex pieces of engineering. The steel of their blades is heated, folded, and beaten -- over and over again -- until the blade's are formed by 33,000 layers, forge-welded (hammered) to one another. Each layer becomes a hundred thousandth of an inch thick.

It is said of the Samurai and his Katana, “By thousands of hours training and practicing with a Katana, it becomes a part of him and his soul." Therefore, the Samurai’s Katana is known as it’s owner’s soul.

*Daimyo (in feudal Japan) one of the Great Lords who were vassals of the Shogun*.
*Shogun (in feudal Japan) a hereditary Commander In Chief. Because of the military power concentrated in his hands and the consequent weakness of the nominal head of state (the Mikado or Emperor), the Shogun was generally the real ruler of the country, until feudalism was abolished, in 1867.

[Richard🖌]

In Japanese, the word Samurai literally means "warrior or knight."
Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern feudal Japan, from the late 12th century to their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the Daimyo*. They had high prestige and special privileges such as wearing two swords and a knife: the long Samurai Sword or Katana (for fighting at arm’s length), the middle length sword or Wakizaski (for in-close fighting), and a personal short knife, the Tanto (for penetrating armor, carving, general use, and for committing ritual suicide by disembowelment (Hari-Kari or Seppuku).

These two swords and short knife are made by skilled master swordsmiths, who heat, fold, hammers, and cool by dipping in purified water (tempers) thousands of times before before finally grinding it to shape and sharpening on one edge.
The Katana blade is generally 28-32” in length, the Wakizashi blade 20-24” in length, and the Tanto blade is 6-12” long.

A Samurai Sword or Katana and Wakizashi are wonderfully delicate and complex pieces of engineering. The steel of their blades is heated and folded and beaten -- over and over again -- until the blade's are formed by 33,000 layers, forge-welded (hammered) to one another. Each layer becomes a hundred thousandth of an inch thick.

It is said of the Samurai and his Katana, “By thousands of hours training and practicing with a Katana, it becomes a part of him and his soul; therefore, the Samurai’s Katana is known as it’s owner’s soul.
*Daimyo (in feudal Japan) one of the Great Lords who were vassals of the Shogun*.
*Shogun (in feudal Japan) a hereditary Commander In Chief. Because of the military power concentrated in his hands and the consequent weakness of the nominal head of state (the Mikado or Emperor), the Shogun was generally the real ruler of the country, until feudalism was abolished, in 1867.

[Susan 🦋]

Well I certainly learned something new today. Thank you for the detailed explanation. It is all very interesting :-)

[Richard🖌]

Always,
To Thee I bow in greatest honor for the joys of your pleasured enlightening, M'Ichi-ban Susan-san 🙏

[Just Kim]

Thank you for this, I will try this type of write soon. I like this

[Richard🖌]

Hi, Kim ⛩️

Thanks for reading and liking. : )

I'll be looking forward to your first Senryu⁓ Richard 🔪

[‘Thoughts In Time..]

Beautiful and a holy powerful ness this does hold- only held by trusted few and humbled and chosen- just wonderful🌹

[Richard🖌]

Gosh, Lady Kelly 😳

It's amazing I've missed your review for all this time … I'm sorry, Dear.
How thrillingly enjoyable and deeply meaningful your words.

You touch an olde warrior's heart.
With warmest hugs! ⁓ Richard 🔪

[kitty]

Highly revered. Something to treasure ~ always!

[Richard🖌]

Thank you again, Kitty.
Many of my posts you've, probably, already read on Writer's Network.

Brightest blessings! ⁓ Richard : )

[kitty]

Cheers to you m'lord!

[Neville]

As sharp as they ever come
aesthetically perfect & quite beautiful.....................Says me who has long had a thing about em'
In fact, got two....x1 Koto and x1 Shinshinto
Cracking senryu, cheers....Neville

[Richard🖌]

Many humble thanks, Neville, for your accolade and bright salutation.
Congratulations on your honorable historical acquisitions … rare treasures they are, indeed.

Brightest blessings! ⁓ Richard

[Gee]

I actually know a fella that restores these swords as a sideline to his plumbing business. He tells me that the steel becomes so highly polished that the grain can be seen. This I am told takes hundreds of hours of painstaking Labour.

[Richard🖌]

Thank you sincerely, Gee, for sharing your input.
The fella you know has spoken true words, indeed.
His honorable skills and those of the Japanese sword-maker are rare and special, indeed.

I am humbly grateful for your reading! ⁓ Richard

[Roland Petrov]

No punctuation? Busted! Just kidding, Richard. This is beautiful, and your selection of illustration takes the experience up yet another notch. I have a book called Modern Japanese Tanka where there are no capitals nor punctuation. I followed that model with my own tanka. I wrote haiku long before tanka, and I punctuated my early ones and then stuck with it. Punctuation in poetry is a difficult subject for me because I'm not yet convinced that it always helps; sometimes, I think poetry benefits from ambiguity.

[Richard🖌]

The Western rules for Haiku and Senryu are 5/7/5, with no title, capitalizations, or punctuation.read moreThe Western rules for Haiku and Senryu are 5/7/5, with no title, capitalizations, or punctuation.
My sole violation here, or course, is the title.
It is never too late to discipline oneself to the art of whatever form one is composing-in, Roland … thus, preserving the purity if that form as it is intended to be, rather than disregarding, in one's flippant arrogance, a form that was loved, revered, and preserved far longer than you and I put together have lived.
Having said that, I am as guilty as anyone I know of in violating almost every grammatical and poetical rule ever posed, but I have learned better, seldom (if ever) do anymore, and i certainly never teach or condone it … ha-hahhh!
Seriously, if we want to poetic "ambiguity"/impossibility, we should make-up our own poetry, without any form whatsoever, and call it gibberish … LOL!