on them, and most had
designs ornate and often elaborate. The accessories of the blade and
the ornamentation thereof lent full scope for that artistic adornment
which has for ages past, as I have more than once remarked, been
characteristic of almost every article used in Japan. The wearing of
the sword was confined to persons of a certain rank, and different
classes wore different kinds of swords. About the sixteenth century
the custom of wearing two swords, one large, the other about the size
of a dirk, came into fashion. The two-handed sword was essentially a
war sword. The colour of the scabbard was almost invariably black with
a tinge of red or green, and it was in most instances beautifully
lacquered. The possessor of a sword gave full vent to his tastes in
regard to the size and decoration of his weapon. According to Griffis:
"Daimios often spent extravagant sums upon a single sword and small
fortunes upon a collection. A Samurai, however poor, would have a
blade of sure temper and rich mountings, deeming it honourable to
suffer for food that he might have a worthy emblem of his rank." On
January 1, 1877, the wearing of swords was abolished by an Imperial
decree, and foreigners visiting or resident in Japan in that and the
following years were able to pick up magnificent swords for a few
dollars each.

I have not space to describe in detail the many accessories which went
to form the complete sword for the strong man armed in old Japan, or
the elaborate and artistic ornamentation of every detail. In many of
the small pieces of metal work which adorned the swords gold, silver,
platina, copper, iron, steel, zinc, besides numerous alloys were used.
The abolition of sword-wearing gave a death-blow to the industry in
connection with the making of swords except in so far as it has been
continued for the purpose of turning them out for the European market.
But during the many centuries the art of metal work, as exemplified in
sword manufacture and the ornamentation of the sword and the various
accessories of it, existed in Japan it reached a magnificent height of
perfection. Dealing only with one period of it a French writer has
remarked: "What a galaxy of masters illuminated the close of the
eighteenth century! What a multitude of names and works would have to
be cited in any attempt to write a monograph upon sword furniture! The
humblest artisan, in this universal outburst of art, is superior in
his mastery of metal