[JenB]

I've heard of the guy but never read him.

Hmm, you know, I really have very little idea of how forging a sword works. Maybe I shall do some research. At least it would be a good excuse to use cool words in my story. But 'sakabatou' is not the right sort of sword, I shall make do with katanas or something.

('sakabatou' would be a sword with a blade on the side you don't hit with)

[Fedora]

I bet 300winmag with his knife-making knowledge might be able to offer some insight into sword-making :)

Also, if you want to do research on this, a good book is:

Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook, Secrets of the Samurai: A Survey of the Martial Arts of Feudal Japan