‘Between the samurai and his blade was formed a binding spiritual union of man and steel.’
In the 1969 short documentary The Japanese Sword as the Soul of the Samurai, the US filmmaker Kenneth Wolfgang (1931-2011) is allowed rare access to the Tokyo workshop of a master samurai swordsmith to explore the craft and history behind the iconic Japanese weapon. Instantly recognisable for its elegant shape and sharp cutting edge, the samurai sword was long one of the most fearsome weapons in the world, as well as an object of great symbolic importance in premodern Japan. Here, its creation is documented in rich detail as a swordsmith and his apprentices hammer, fold and weld to create a near-perfect steel blade in a process that melds expert craftsmanship with Shinto religious ritual. Alongside the workshop footage, Wolfgang uses traditional Japanese woodblock paintings, dolls and the narration of the US actor George Takei (Lt Sulu in Star Trek) to take the audience through the sword’s history – from its mythological origins and into the 20th century, well past the samurai era. In doing so, Wolfgang demystifies the object for Western audiences while also conveying its deep significance to Japanese history and myth.
Director: Kenneth Wolfgang
Narrator: George Takei
Courtesy of Special Collections at the University of Arizona Libraries
video
Family life
The precious family keepsakes that hold meaning for generations
10 minutes
video
Neuroscience
This intricate map of a fruit fly brain could signal a revolution in neuroscience
2 minutes
video
Archaeology
What did the first people who entered Tutankhamun’s tomb see?
5 minutes
video
Information and communication
Coverage of the ‘balloon boy’ hoax forms a withering indictment of for-profit news
17 minutes
video
Childhood and adolescence
Marmar is living through a devastating war – but she’d rather tell you about her new dress
8 minutes
video
Meaning and the good life
Wander through the English countryside with two teens trying to make sense of the world
10 minutes
video
Computing and artificial intelligence
The ‘cloud’ requires heaps of energy to stay aloft. Could synthetic DNA be the answer?
12 minutes
video
Art
A puppeteer makes sense of an overwhelming world by shrinking it down to size
5 minutes
video
History
There are fragments of Romani Gypsy history all over the UK – if one knows where to look
3 minutes