Masamune spheres. Japanese katanas and swords about which legends were made

Celestial Weapons this is the latest and greatest weapon in Final Fantasy X. “Weapons of the seven luminaries” (this is the term this weapon is called in Latin), which is a whole series of different weapons. They are unique in that simply finding them is not enough, as all weapons require fusion with a specific Seal And coat of arms, patronizing one of the planets of the solar system.

Each Celestial Weapon has four abilities, one of which will definitely be Break Damage Limit(Exceeding the damage limit limit). And even if it is not listed as an ability, they will all have Piercing effect(Punctures target's armor). However, without using the appropriate items, you will not be able to achieve these four skills. Without items, each Celestial Weapon will only have three ability slots, but the "Lack of AP" ability will also automatically be present in the fourth slot.

When you first receive this weapon, do not rush to draw conclusions about its uselessness, since at first the weapon will only have one ability. Remember that this is temporary and if you try, you will become the owner of the most powerful weapon in the game. To unlock the true abilities of these weapons, you must obtain two items for each of them, Coats of Arms and Seals. When updated, all Celestial Weapons will be able to:

• Ignore defense;
• Deal damage above the standard limit of 9999;
• Possess Triple Overdrive, allowing the wielder to fill the Overdrive gauge three times faster than normal.

Each Celestial Weapon also has two additional abilities that are different from the others. Some of them allow eons to break the damage limit.

So, to find all these weapons, you must first obtain Heavenly Mirror(Celestial Mirror).

Heavenly Mirror

In order to obtain the Heavenly Mirror, you must first obtain Misty Mirror(Cloudy Mirror). First you must visit the Remien Temple. And to get there, you need to ride a chocobo to the Calms Lands.

To do this, talk to the chocobo trainer, who can be found either in the northwest side in front of the Travel Inn or on the far right, at the entrance to the Quiet Lands from the south. Please note that when you enter the Silent Lands for the first time, the Trainer will only be in the northwest.

Then you must undergo training on how to ride this cute creature. Now that you can finally travel on a chocobo, go to the South Entrance and go right. On the way you will see a broken bridge and a chocobo feather. Press the button to examine the feather and jump down. Follow this path, which will lead you to a bridge leading directly to the Remien Temple. At the entrance to the Temple, turn left and press the button to examine the sphere lying on the ground. She will tell you about chocobo racing. Go to the other side and talk to the Chocobo. Say that you would like to take part in a race along the slope (in the race itself, forget about chests and all sorts of branches). If you come first, you will win the Misty Mirror, thereby completing the first part of the plan to obtain the weapon we need.

Now you need to get the Heavenly Mirror. To do this you must go to Macalania Woods. On the southern side of the forest (where the entrance to the Thunder Plains is), you will see a woman and a child. Talk to both of them and they will say that they have been waiting for their husband/father for a long time. Turn and go right until a path appears to the north. There you will see a man, talk to him and tell him that his family is waiting for him. Then he will leave, follow him and you will see that this time the son is missing. Talk to your father and mother, then make your way to the left and follow it until a path appears to the north. You will find their son nearby. Talk to him and your Mist Mirror will begin to react, prompting you to use it. Congratulations, you now have the “Heavenly Mirror”, which means the second part of the plan is completed.

This orb that turned your Misty Mirror into a Celestial one is very significant, as this is where you will return to unlock the true abilities of your Celestial weapon.

Below is a list of all types of Celestial Weapons (characters in alphabetical order), who they belong to, how to get them, and how to get Coats of Arms and Seals for them. After obtaining the weapon and its sealed crest, simply return to the Giant Tree Orb in the Macalania Forests to unlock the weapon's full power. You can visit the tree at any time, and without exception, you can receive and unlock weapons in any order.

Heavenly Weapon

Masamune Auron/Auron's Masamune

Weapon location: Mushroom Rock Road.

Before entering the Rocky Mushroom Road, you should visit the Calm Lands. Go to the gorge (where the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth is). Go right and follow the path. There you will find a sword stuck in the ground, examine it with the button and pick it up. You can now proceed to the Rocky Mushroom Road. Go north and take the second path. Use the elevator to get to the statue. Examine this statue and use the Rusty Sword you found earlier. A mandola will appear, press the button and use the Mirror. You now have Masamune.

Coat of arms of Mars: Go to Mi"ihen Oldroad and follow all the way south until you come to a dead end, where you will find a chest with this coat of arms.

Simple enough, right? Coats of arms will always be easy to obtain.

Seal of Mars: Unlock any combination of 10 Area Creations or 1 Species Creations in the Monster Arena east of the Calm Lands. As a reward for this, the trainer will give you a seal.

Collection difficulty: It's quite simple and won't take much time. To do the above, you will need from 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Capabilities: + + + .

Special Effects: Deals more damage when Auron's HP is depleted and allows Yojimbo to exceed 9,999 damage.

Kimahri's Spirit Lance

In the Japanese, Italian, Spanish, French and German releases, the Spirit Spear is known as Longinus.

Weapon location: Thunder Plains.

First of all, you must explore (using the X button) the four Cactuar stones that are scattered across the plains. These are glowing stones that can be activated by pressing the button. When you're done, head south of the Thunder Plains, following the right side until you find a Cactuar Spirit. Follow him and he will lead you to the Tower's broken lightning rod. Explore it by clicking the button. Open the chest to reveal a Spirit Spear.

Coat of arms of Saturn: Mount Gagazet (Mt. Gagazet). Go to the place where you fought Seymour. Between the two columns on the left you will find a chest containing a coat of arms.

Seal of Saturn: Macalania Woods. You must complete the Butterfly Catching mini-game (after receiving the airship).

Collection difficulty: Easy, except for collecting the seal; completing this quest may be quite hesitant at first, but having learned the intricacies and gotten the hang of it, passing this obstacle should not cause many problems.

Capabilities:

Special Effects: Deals more damage when Kimahri's HP is full, and allows Ixion to exceed 9,999 damage.

Onion Knight Lulu/Lulu's Onion Knight

Onion knight doll. A weapon named after the model of the onion knight on the shield from Final Fantasy III.

Weapon location: Underwater Baaj Temple.

First you must defeat Geosgaeno. Having done this, go through the hole in the wall, to the door opposite the one where Anima is/was. You won't be able to see the chest, but keep pressing until you're asked to use the Sky Mirror.

Coat of arms of Venus: After visiting Farplane for the second time, on the left you will see a chest containing a coat of arms.

Seal of Venus: Thunder Plains. You must complete the side quest "Lightning Dodger", the essence of which is to dodge lightning 200 times in a row. After that, go to the Travel Agency and receive a prize with a stamp for your efforts.

Collection difficulty: Heavy. Despite the fact that the comb is quite easy to get, dodging two hundred lightning bolts in a row can take up a lot of your time. You will need a lot of patience and dexterity so as not to miss any of the lightning.

Capabilities: + + + .

Special Effects: Deals more damage when Lulu's MP is full, and allows Shiva to exceed 9,999 damage.

God's hand Rikku/Rikku's Godhand

Weapon location: On your Airship, enter the code: GODHAND ( important: not godhand or Godhand). Then proceed to the chest with weapons.

Coat of arms of Mercury: Go to the square in front of the Home in the desert, near the northwest path you will find a hole. There you will find a chest with a coat of arms.

Mercury Seal: The same area as when obtaining the coat of arms, but head towards the path blocked by the sandstorm. To unlock the path and clear the sand, you must complete a side quest in Cactuar Village.

At the end of the island is a stone with an image of a Cactuar engraved on it. After examining it, you will be able to observe a poetic phrase. Ten Cactuars will grow in the desert. The player must find them and then play "Red Light, Green Light" with them. If the player reaches them before they notice, the battle can be avoided. Then the search for the next Cactuar will begin faster.

Ten Cactuars can be found in the following locations:

1. Tomay Oasis, to the right of the save sphere.
2. Rovivea - East of Sanubia, run around the treasure chest in the northwest alcove.
3. Chava - Sanubia West, read the sign that says "20% on sale". After this, the Cactuar will appear.
4. Alek - Center of Sanubia, running back and forth through the northwestern ruins. Leaving Sanubia, heading west back to the Cactuar Village, something strange will happen in this very area.
5. Aloja See #4.
6. Vachella – East of Sanubia, touch the save sphere near the tent. The Cactuar will appear.
7. Robeya - Sanubia Center, inside the treasure chest in the southwest corner.
8. Isrra West of Sanubia, in a sand pit. The player must leave the area after the deal with Robeya and return for the next Cactuar to appear.
9. Elio Oasis, Cactuar uses the save sphere to teleport aboard the airship. Do the same and return to your ship, proceed to the upper deck to find him.
10. Flaile - West of Sanubia, will appear behind the player when the spheres from the first nine cactuars are turned back to stone.

After this, the passage will be open, and the chest with the seal will be waiting for you there.

Collection difficulty: Simple but labor intensive. If you completed the quest earlier, everything can be done fairly quickly.

Capabilities: + + + .

Special Effects: Deals more damage when Rikku's HP is full, does not affect Eons.

Tidus' Caladbolg

In Japanese, Spanish, German and Italian, Caladball is called Ultima Weapon, and simply Ultima in the French version.

Weapon location: Calm Lands.

Beat the trainer's score in the "Chocobo Trainer" side quest. When you go all the way to the northwest, you will see that the guy guarding the path to Caladbol has abandoned his post. There you will find a path leading down and then a mandola. Use the Mirror and get Caladball.

Emblem of the Sun: Zanarkand. It is recommended to obtain it immediately after defeating Yunaleschi. Just go down the stairs at the end of the hall (where Yunalesca was) and you'll be able to take another set of stairs. Now follow it up and there you will find a chest containing a coat of arms.

Seal of the Sun: Calm Lands. You must beat the trainer's score by 0:00 in the "Chocobo Trainer" side quest. It may take several times. Collecting 15 balloons without getting hit by an opponent will allow you to receive this seal as a reward.

Collection difficulty: Average. It may take her a while to get the hang of when to collect the marbles and when to dodge the chocobos.

Capabilities: + + + .

Special Effects: Deals more damage when Tidus' HP is full, does not affect Eons.

Wakka's World Champion

A weapon formerly owned by High Summoner Oaland.

Weapon location: Cafe in Luca.

Talk to the barmaid and she will ask you to show her the Mirror. Do this and she will give you the World Champion weapon, but only if you played Blitzball. If she doesn't give it to you, play a couple of rounds of blitzball and return to her.

Coat of arms of Jupiter: Luke. Go to the locker room, searching among the lockers, you will find a chest with a coat of arms.

Seal of Jupiter: Blitzball. Mining can take a very long time. You must first obtain all Overdrives for Wakka (by earning prizes from Blitzball matches). After obtaining all three available in the tournament, the seal will be marked as a prize in championship matches. Before completing the 10th game, you can save and check if the prize you need is in the table. If not, you can reboot until the one you need appears. There is a 50% chance of appearing, so try your best.

Collection difficulty: Depends on your Blitzball skill, so it will most likely take a very long time.

Capabilities: + + + .

Special Effect: Deals more damage when Wakka's HP is full, and allows Ifrit to exceed 9,999 damage.

Yuna's Nirvana

Weapon location: Silent Lands Monster Arena.

The trainer will give it to you as a prize for capturing one type of each monster in the Quiet Lands. You will receive a chest with Nirvana stored in it.

Coat of arms of the Moon: Besaid. Go to the beach and get into the water. Depending on when you do this, the chest with the coat of arms will be located in a certain direction. If you pick it up when Tidus first appears on Bside, he will be to your right. At any other time after this, he will be on the left.

Moon Seal: Remiem Temple. You must fight Velgemina and defeat all of her Aeons, including the secret ones (Anima, Ejimbo, Sorceress Sisters). After you have done this, she will ask you to seal it. Once submitted, the stamp will be yours.

Here is a list of all the items you can get from her for defeating each of her aeons:

Collection difficulty: Perhaps the simplest.

Capabilities: + + +

Special Effects: Deals more damage when Yuna's MP is full, and allows Valefor to exceed 9,999 damage.

However, I propose to continue this topic...

Japanese swords are separate species weapons. This is a weapon with its own philosophy. When you hold a real katana, tachi or tanto in your hands, you can immediately tell which master made this thing. This is not an assembly line production; each sword is individual.

In Japan, sword manufacturing technology began to develop in the 8th century and reached its highest perfection by XIII century, allowing the production of not just military weapons, but a real work of art, which cannot be fully reproduced even in modern times. For about a thousand years, the shape of the sword remained virtually unchanged, changing slightly mainly in length and degree of bending in accordance with the development of close combat tactics. The sword also had ritual and magical significance in Japanese society.

The role of edged weapons in Japan has never been limited to its purely utilitarian military purpose. The sword is one of the three sacred regalia - the bronze mirror of Yata no Kagami, the jasper pendants of Yasakani no Magatama and the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi - received by the ancestors of the current imperial family directly from the gods, and therefore also has a sacred function

Owning a sword placed its owner at a certain social level. After all, commoners - peasants, artisans, merchants - were denied the right to carry bladed weapons. It was not a tight wallet or the number of servants, but a sword tucked into a belt that served as indisputable evidence of a person’s belonging to the court nobility or the samurai class.

For many centuries, the sword was considered the materialized soul of a warrior. But for the Japanese, swords, especially ancient ones, are also works of the highest art; they are passed down from generation to generation as priceless treasures, and are kept in the exhibitions of national museums along with other cultural masterpieces

It is difficult to say when the first swords appeared on Japanese territory. The legendary sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi, according to official myths, was extracted by the god Susanoo from the tail of the dragon he defeated. However, in fact, the situation with the first swords was somewhat more prosaic. They, along with other goods, were imported from the continent - from China and Korea.

The oldest examples of swords were discovered in burials from the Kofun period (300-710). Although they had suffered severely from rust, from what remained you could get an idea of ​​what they looked like. They had short, straight blades with a sharpened end; apparently, they did not chop with them, but stabbed. Experts call them jokoto - ancient swords.

In those years there were more than a thousand various schools gunsmiths. Each workshop offered its own method of forging, tempering, and decorating the sword. The huge demand for weapons has led to a decline in quality. As a result, the secrets of making old koto swords were irretrievably lost, and each workshop began searching for its own technology. Some blades - they were called Shinto (new swords) - turned out to be very good, others - less successful, but none of them could rise to the heights of koto.

The appearance of imported European weapons in the country could not somehow influence traditional technologies. The Japanese were surprised to discover that Spanish and German blades were made in “the same forging.” Therefore, most of the swords brought into the country were used as raw materials for processing in accordance with Japanese technologies. After reforging, they made good daggers.

Craftsmen often put their mark on the shank of the blade. Over time, information about the weapons tests carried out began to appear next to the master’s name. The fact is that with the advent of the Edo period (1600-1868), peace reigned in the country. The samurai could test the edge of their sword only on a tightly tied bunch of wet rice straw. Of course, there were also “tests on living material.”

According to the existing tradition, a samurai could, without further ado, hack to death a commoner who showed disrespect - a peasant or artisan. But such “fun” began to cause condemnation. And then they began to test the newly forged swords on the bodies of executed criminals.

According to the laws of the shogunate, the bodies of those executed became the property of the state, with the exception of the remains of murderers, tattooed people, clergy and untouchables, who were subject to a taboo. The body of the executed person was tied to a pole, and the person checking the quality of the sword chopped it in designated places. Then an inscription was carved on the shank of the weapon, for example, that two bodies were cut with a sword - a kind of OTK mark

Such marks were especially often made on blades produced in the 19th century. They came to be called Shinshinto (new new swords). In a sense, this period became a renaissance in the art of making Japanese swords.

Around the end of the 8th century, swords began to change their shape; they were made longer and slightly curved. But the main thing was different. The old koto swords, as they are now called, acquired incomparable qualities thanks to the art of Japanese swordsmiths. With only an empirical understanding of metallurgical technology, through much trial and error, they came close to understanding how to make a sword blade sharp enough, but not brittle.

In many ways, the quality of a sword depends on the carbon content of the steel, as well as on the hardening method. Reducing the amount of carbon, which was achieved by long-term forging, made the steel soft, oversaturation - hard, but very brittle. European gunsmiths were looking for a way out of this dilemma through a reasonable compromise, in the Middle East - with the help of original alloys, including the legendary damask steel.

The Japanese have chosen their own path. They assembled the blade of the sword from several types of steel that had different qualities. The cutting edge, which was very hard and therefore capable of being very sharp, was fused with a softer, more flexible blade with a reduced carbon content.

Most often, the production of swords at that time was carried out by the Yamabushi mountain hermits, who professed asceticism and religious detachment. But the blacksmiths who made weapons in feudal castles and craft estates also turned sword forging into a kind of religious act. The masters, who at this time adhered to strict abstinence in food, drink and communication with women, began work only after the purification ceremony, dressed in ceremonial robes and decorated the anvil with the sacred symbols of Shintoism - rice rope and paper strips.

Tati's long sword. The wavy pattern is clearly visible jamon on the blade. The hamon is individual for each sword; the patterns of the most famous swords were sketched as a work of art.

Cross section of a Japanese sword. Shown are two common structures with excellent combinations in the direction of the steel layers. Left: The metal of the blade will show texture. itame, on right - masame.

Pieces of steel with approximately the same carbon content were poured onto a plate of the same metal, in a single block everything was heated to 1300 °C and welded together with hammer blows. The process of forging the workpiece begins. The workpiece is flattened and folded in half, then flattened again and folded in half in the other direction. As a result of repeated forging, multilayer steel is obtained, finally cleared of slag. It is easy to calculate that when the workpiece is folded 15 times, almost 33 thousand layers of steel are formed - the typical density of Damascus for Japanese swords

The slag still remains a microscopic layer on the surface of the steel layer, forming a peculiar texture ( hada), resembling a pattern on the surface of wood.

To make a sword blank, the blacksmith forges at least two bars: from hard high-carbon steel ( kawagane) and softer low-carbon ( shingane). From the first, a U-shaped profile approximately 30 cm long is formed, into which a block is placed shingane, without reaching the part that will become the top and which is made of the best and hardest steel kawagane. Then the blacksmith heats the block in a forge and welds the component parts together by forging, after which he increases the length of the workpiece at 700-1100 °C to the size of a sword.

As a result of this long and labor-intensive process, the structure of the koto became multilayered and consisted (this is visible only under a microscope, and the old masters judged this by the color and texture of the metal) of thousands of lamellar layers, each with its own indicators of viscosity and brittleness, determined by the carbon content. The carefully leveled surface of the anvil, the meticulous selection of hammers, and the force of the hammer blows were all important.

Then the long hardening process began. Each part of the sword had to be heated and cooled in its own way, so the workpiece was covered with a layer of clay of varying thickness, which made it possible not only to vary the degree of heating in the forge, but also made it possible to apply a wavy pattern to the blade.

When the blacksmith's work was completed, the product was handed over to the polisher, who used dozens of sharpening stones and pieces of leather for this purpose. different thicknesses and finally, the pads of your own fingers.

Meanwhile, another craftsman was making a wooden scabbard. Honoki wood was mainly used - magnolia, because it effectively protected the sword from rust. The sword hilt and sheath were decorated with decorative overlays made of soft metal and ingenious patterns of twisted rope.

Initially, most koto swords were produced in the province of Yamato and its neighboring Yamashiro. The skill of the old blacksmiths reached its highest peak during the Kamakura period (1185-1333). Their products still amaze with their excellent quality and artistry of design. Swords were worn in sheaths, attached with two straps to the belt, with the blade down. By this time, longer swords came into use, sometimes up to 1.5 m long, intended for mounted warriors. Riders attached these swords to their backs.

As the country was drawn into the bloody civil strife of the 14th century, which caused considerable damage to the country's economy, but contributed to the prosperity of gunsmiths, the demand for swords increased. Large workshops settled in the provinces of Bizen, Sagami and Mino. So, in those days more than 4 thousand masters worked in Bizen, in Mino - 1270, in Yamato - 1025

If we take the average productivity of a blacksmith of those years as 30 swords per year (although more expensive orders took much longer), then the Bizen province alone produced 120 thousand swords annually. In total, in those years there were about 15 million units of these bladed weapons in circulation throughout Japan.

How much did the samurai’s “soul”—the sword—cost? It is very difficult to calculate the real cost of a sword in modern monetary terms. But you can get an idea of ​​this by the number of working days spent on the production of one standard sword. During the Nara period (710-794), the master spent 18 days on forging, 9 days on decorating it, 6 days on varnishing the scabbard, 2 days on leather belts, another 18 days on final refinement and fit. And if we add to this the cost of materials, then Samurai sword became a very expensive purchase.

Higher quality and more expensive swords were intended both for gifts to superiors, foreign guests or gods (they were left in the altar of a favorite temple), and for rewarding the most distinguished warriors. From the middle of the 13th century, a division of labor emerged in the production of swords. Some craftsmen forged, others polished, others made scabbards, etc.

With the advent of military armor capable of withstanding the blow of an arrow and a sword, the shape of bladed weapons began to change. Swords became shorter (about 60 cm), wider and heavier, but much more convenient in foot fights. In addition to the sword, daggers were also used to hit a vulnerable spot in the enemy’s armor. Thus, the warrior began to wear two blades in his belt at once, with the blade facing upward - a katana sword and a wakizashi dagger (short sword). This set was called daisho - “big and small”.

The Kamakura period is considered the golden age of the Japanese sword, blades reached their highest perfection, which could not be repeated in later times, including attempts by modern blacksmiths to restore lost technologies. The most famous blacksmith of this period was Masamune from Sagami Province. Legend has it that Masamune refused to sign his blades because they could not be counterfeited. There is some truth in this, since out of 59 known blades only a few daggers are signed, but establishing authorship does not cause controversy among experts.

Monk Goro Nyudo Masamune, who lived from 1288 to 1328, is best known as the greatest Japanese sword maker. He studied with the famous Japanese gunsmith Shintogu Kunimitsu. During his lifetime, Masamune became a legend in weaponry. Masamune used a special Soshu technique in his work and created swords called tachi and daggers called tanto. Several generations of his followers and students worked in this tradition. This technology was a way to create super-strong swords. Four strips of steel were welded together and folded together five times, resulting in a total of 128 layers of steel in the blade.

In Japan, there is the Masamune Award, which is awarded annually to outstanding sword makers.

The swords made by the Master are particularly beautiful and high quality. He worked at a time when pure steel was often not used to make swords. Masamune perfected the art of "nie" - the design on the blade of the blade. The sword material he used contained martensite crystals embedded in a pearlite matrix, similar in appearance to stars in the night sky. Masamune swords are characterized by clear gray lines on the leading edge that cut through the blade like lightning, as well as a gray shadow on the front of the blade formed during the hardening process.

Master Masamune rarely signed his works, since he made swords mainly for shogunts. The swords "Fudo Masamune", "Kegoku Masamune" and "Daikoku Masamune" are considered to be his original works. Masamune swords are listed in a catalog of weapons that was written during the Kyoto era by the appraiser Gonami. The catalog was created by order of Tokugawa Eshimune of the Tokugawa Shogunt in 1714 and consists of 3 books. A third of all swords listed in the catalog, made using the Soshu technique, were created by the master Masamune and his students.

Sword " Fudo Masamune» is one of the few swords whose blade was signed by the master Masamune himself, so its authenticity is beyond doubt. The blade of the tanto sword, about 25 cm long, is decorated with carvings on the front of the blade. It has engravings of chopsticks (goma-hashi) on one side and the Kurikara dragon on the other side. The Kurikara dragon on the blade of the sword represents Fudo-myo, the Buddhist deity after whom this sword was named.

Sword "Hocho Masamune" refers to one of three specific and unusual tanto related to Masamune. These tantos have a wide base in contrast to the usually refined and graceful workmanship of the craftsman, making them look like a Japanese cooking knife. One of them has an engraving of chopsticks called goma-hasi. The sword "Hocho Masamune" was restored around 1919, and is now kept in the Tokugawa Art Museum.

Sword "Kotegiri Masamune" or "kote giri". The name kote giri is taken from martial art kendo, and means a chopping blow to the wrist. The sword is derived from the tachi, a long Japanese sword used by Asakura Yujika against an army of samurai in the Battle of Kyoto. The military-political leader of Japan during the Sengoku period, Oda Nobunaga, took possession of this sword. He reduced the size of the sword to its current length. In 1615, the sword was given to the Maeda clan, after which it was presented as a gift to Emperor Meiji, a famous sword collector, in 1882.

Along with Masamune swords, Muramasa swords are often mentioned, although they are mistakenly considered contemporaries of Masamune swords, and the mistake is that they were created by his student. Muramasa is known to have worked in the 16th century AD. and could not meet Masamune. According to legend, Muramasa blades are considered a symbol of evil, and Masamune blades are considered a symbol of peace and tranquility. The legends associated with Masamune swords say that they were considered holy weapons.

BLADE OF HONJO MASAMUNE- piece of art.

This blade is considered one of the best swords that man has ever created. It is a symbol of the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan for about two hundred years.

The shogunate or Edo bakufu is the feudal military government of Japan, founded in 1603 by Tokugawa Izyasu and headed by the shoguns of the Tokugawa clan.

It existed for more than two and a half centuries until 1868. This period in the history of Japan is known as the Edo period, after the name of the capital of Japan, the city of Edo (now Tokyo). The shogunate headquarters was located in Edo Castle

The name of the sword is most likely associated with General Honjo, who received this sword in battle. General Honjo Shikinaga in the 16th century was attacked by Umanosuke, who already had several trophy goals to his name.

Umanosuke cut the helmet of General Honjo Shikinaga with the Masamune sword, but he survived and took the sword as a reward. The blade of the sword was slightly damaged in battles, but is still usable. In 1592-1595, General Honjo Shikinaga was sent to Fushimi Castle, then he took the Masamune sword with him. Subsequently, Honjo, since he had no money, had to sell the sword to his nephew. At that time, the Masamune sword was purchased for only 13 gold coins. It was later valued at 1,000 yen in a Kyoto weapons catalog. Exact date The creation of the sword is not known; it is approximately 700 years old.

To appreciate the significance of the Honjo Masamune for the Japanese, it is enough to remember that this blade was passed down from generation to generation by the Tokugawa shogunate. Until January 1946, the descendants of the Tokugawa remained the owners of the priceless sword.

The photo of the sword is speculative, there are simply no other images of this katana

In 1939, this blade was declared a cultural property of Japan.

Japanese culture is very original. Accordingly, officers of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy during WWII carried traditional edged weapons. Before the start of World War II, every officer, as well as non-commissioned officers of the Japanese Army, was issued a Japanese sword as a symbol of valor and courage (these swords were manufactured industrially, they were often forged from rails and were more likely part of a costume and do not represent any value) . Officers who belonged to ancient samurai families had family swords, officers from poor and humble families had army “remakes”.

They were made in large quantities and were naturally inferior in quality to “piece” blades. The manufacturing technology has been simplified in accordance with the needs of in-line production.

Douglas MacArthur, American military leader, holder of the highest rank - Army General, Field Marshal of the Philippines, recipient of many orders and medals.

On the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, MacArthur commanded Allied forces in the Philippines. For his leadership in the defense of the Philippines despite the surrender, MacArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor on April 1, 1942.

MacArthur led the Allied counter-offensive in New Guinea from July 1942 (Battle of Kokoda) to January 1943, and from there his troops moved into the Philippines, which he finally liberated from the Japanese in the early months of 1945.

Following the example of Germany, he developed a plan for dividing Japan into separate parts between the victorious countries, which was never implemented.

As Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific, he accepted Japan's surrender on September 2, 1945, aboard the American battleship Missouri.

As commander-in-chief of the Allied occupation forces in Japan, MacArthur implemented postwar reforms and helped draft the new Japanese constitution.

He was the organizer of the Tokyo trial of Japanese war criminals.

The country was in deep depression caused by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the inglorious defeat in World War II. As part of disarmament, as well as breaking the spirit of the defeated Japanese, all swords were subject to confiscation and destruction as edged weapons. According to some reports, over 660,000 blades were seized, and about 300,000 were destroyed.

Moreover, the Americans could not distinguish a valuable sword from a stamped one. Since many swords were of great value to the Japanese and world communities as objects of art, after the intervention of experts, the order was changed. The “Society for the Preservation of Artistic Japanese Swords” was created, one of its tasks was an expert assessment of the historical value of the sword. Now valuable swords were confiscated, but not destroyed. Some Japanese families then bought cheap stamps and handed them over, hiding their family heirlooms.

Swords were also awarded to particularly distinguished American soldiers. Moreover, some received a stamp, and others received a valuable copy. They didn't really understand.

In January 1946, Tokugawa descendants were forced to hand over Honjo Masamune's katana, and with it 14 other swords, to Sergeant Coldy Baymore of the 7th US Cavalry, but given name is inaccurate. Since when a seizure was made at the police station, where this sword was given by its previous owner, a Japanese police officer made a phonetic translation of the sergeant’s name into Japanese, and subsequently this phonetic translation was again translated into English, and therefore there was an inaccuracy in the translation , since it has been proven that Sergeant Coldy Bymore was not listed as a member of the 7th US Cavalry.

The further fate of Honjo Masamune's sword is unknown.

In the post-war years in America, and throughout the world too, there was a boom in collecting Japanese “artifacts”; thousands of swords were bought and sold at completely different prices. Would-be collectors often had no idea about the true value of their acquisitions. Then the interest subsided and they got rid of the boring toys.

In 1950, Japan passed the Law on Cultural Heritage, which, in particular, determined the procedure for preserving Japanese swords as part of the cultural heritage of the nation.

The sword evaluation system is multi-stage, starting with the assignment of the lowest category and ending with the awarding of the highest titles (the top two titles are under the purview of the Japanese Ministry of Culture):

• National Treasure ( kokuho). About 122 swords have the title, mostly tachi from the Kamakura period, katana and wakizashi in this list are less than 2 dozen.
• Important cultural property. About 880 swords have the title.
• A particularly important sword.
• An important sword.
• A particularly guarded sword.
• Guarded sword.

IN modern Japan It is possible to keep a registered sword with only one of the above titles, otherwise the sword is subject to confiscation as a type of weapon (if it is not classified as a souvenir). The actual quality of the sword is certified by the Society for the Preservation of Artistic Japanese Swords (NBTHK), which issues an expert opinion according to the established standard.

Currently in Japan, it is customary to evaluate a Japanese sword not so much by its combat parameters (strength, cutting ability), but by criteria applicable to a work of art. A high-quality sword, while maintaining the properties of an effective weapon, should provide aesthetic pleasure to the observer, have perfection of form and harmony of artistic taste.

InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made - bigsmok3r`s solution works well, but since I do not like those trials up on the hill very much and kept failing from time to time, I ended up using another (solo) farming method for those masamune marbles:
I started up free roam on the sidemission-map "Heisenberg 3". Check if the "Lord of War"-Miniboss is nearby, easiest done with hitting the select-button (whatever that`s called now, I tend to forget that) to bring up a bigger map.
Look around a bit and if you do not find the big red skull in a spot that you can reach in about 10 seconds from your spawn just start free roam again.
As soon as you find a good spawn with the boss nearby bring him down and you`ll get 27 marbles (Insanity 1 difficulty). Pause the game and from there go back to the main menu. Load up the save again and you will spawn at the same spot with the boss nearby, as long as you do not start another mission or free roam. Kill boss, back to main menu, load up, repeat.

The boss spawns three tumors when he goes down to his knees the first time. I used two shotguns (Purgator with poison and Boner with electricity) and the "Arm of Orochi"-Sword with ice, but whatever works for you will do.
Crit chance & damage will help obviously and I enhanced shadow fury as well.
The 27 marbles will drop every time, even without any %-items for more drops. Killing the boss took me 2.5 minutes in the end with all loading times, but that was with level 160 and all relevant skills maxed.
If it takes you to long to kill him you can also try out free roam in mission "Flirty Fishing 1". The boss there I could kill in about 2 minutes (including loading times) with ease, because he doesn`t go to his knees and spawns no helpers.
But the drop rate for the marbles is much lower, about 50% I think. I have not tried other free roams, but it is possible that you can find a better suited boss on a different one.

Useful hint 1: As you level up you get access to higher difficulty levels (up to insanity 7). While it`s not useful to crank it up for the killing process (bosses drop more marbles, but you`ll encounter more immunities on enemies which will be a hassle to deal with), you can easily exploit it for better weapon-upgrades: Before loading your save hit RB, then choose the highest insanity level available. After loading up just go to the forge and start crafting, you`ll get much better upgrades. After you are done with crafting you can just quit out back
to main menu, change the difficulty back down and enjoy better weapons.

Useful hint 2: Probably known by many, but I just discovered it when I was nearly done: You can cancel out of shadow fury, just press the d-pad down again, you can save some fury with that.

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The sword has always been the weapon of the nobility. The knights treated their blades as comrades in battle, and, having lost his sword in battle, a warrior covered himself with indelible shame. Among the glorious representatives of this type of bladed weapon there is also its own “nobility” - the famous blades, which, according to legend, have magical properties, for example, to put enemies to flight and protect their master. There is some truth in such tales - an artifact sword by its very appearance could inspire the companions of its owner. Here are some deadly relics in Japanese history that are known throughout the world.

Kusanagi no Tsurugi

Having carefully studied the sword, experts came to the conclusion that, most likely, this is the same legendary artifact, since the estimated time of its creation coincides with the events described in the Nihon Shoki, in addition, it also mentions the Isonokami-jingu shrine, so the relic was just lying there there for more than 1.5 thousand years until she was found. © Dmitry Zykov