The Samurai sword is a Japanese warrior sword that date back to as early as the 1300s. Many changes have been made to the Samurai sword since then. These beautiful and ornate instruments can be distinguished in two ways - through the length or mounting type.

The Japanese measure the length through the use of the shaku. One shaku is equivalent to 11.903542 inches. The longest Samurai sword is more than 2 shaku while the shortest is less than 1 shaku in length.

The short Samurai sword is usually for protection and normally carried by women and tradesmen.

Going to the type of mounting, there are so many variations. Some of them are the Ken mounted Samurai sword which is one of the oldest, if not the oldest kind. It can be single or double bladed swords. In the beginning, the Samurai sword was a straight blade but towards the 10th century, you had a fully curved blade.

It was also in the 10th century when Japan started to be more independent from the Chinese, and social classes were formed. The first Samurai emerged at this point and they were the gentlemen from the provinces and the military guards.

Historically, it has not been established how the Samurai sword started. This is probably why legends have been created. The most famous Samurai sword legend is that of Amakuni, who is recognized as the father of the Samurai sword.

The legend of Amakuni is a great tale that never fails to amuse even the most jaded. Briefly, the legend talks about Amakuni, a head smith who was contracted to make swords for the Japanese army.

After one lost battle, when the Emperor returned from a battle with his sadly beaten soldiers, Amakuni went out to greet them. The Emperor did not even glance at him. Disappointed, Amakuni soon saw that the swords of the soldiers that he made were broken and did not look good at all.

Amakuni and his son tried to figure out what went wrong with their work. After seven days of praying to the gods for inspiration, an idea dawned on Amakuni in a dream. It was the image of a curved blade that was single edged.

Following his dream, Amakuni and his son worked on perfecting the sword he saw in his dream. When it was done, he presented the sword to the Emperor and has to work hard to persuade him to try using it in the next battle.

The Emperor decided to give him a chance. When the soldiers returned from their battle, all the swords withstood the test of battle. The Emperor gave Amakuni his just recognition and he was a happy man for having been able to regain the Emperor's favor.

This lovely legend has been passed on from generation to generation, and still manages to capture the heart and strength that comes with every Samurai sword.

Today, the legend lives on, more so in the United States than in Japan. There are more Samurai sword that can be found in America than in Japan, and the numbers continue to grow.