Many collectors and swords specialists consider katana one of the most remarkable long swords in the world. Although for most people katana is just a weapon with a rich history, for Japanese people it represents a symbol that influenced the whole history of Japan.

There are people who are more than just collectors, in fact they are fans of the famous sword and they are the ones that believe in the power of katana. They believe that it helped in forming the essence of the whole Japanese nation.

Traditionally the sword was used by the samurai back in 15th century. It is a long, curved and single-edged sword. The word "katana" was taken by the English language. In Japanese language there is no plural form for katana and its pronunciation comes from kunyomi, which is the Japanese reading.

Katana was a weapon that was worn together with wakizashi or shoto. The latter represent swords made in the same way as katana only shorter. All these weapons were worn by the warrior class since only this class was allowed to possess them.

Katana could also be paired with tanto, which is a sword with a blade being smaller than that of shoto. The duet of katana with a smaller sword was called daisho, and it served as a symbol of social power as well as an honor of the wearer, meaning the samurai.

Katana was used for struggling in an open combat, while shoto or tanto were side weapons, usually used for stabbing in close combat. Short blades were also used for performing the ritual suicide called seppuku. Although today this sword is purchased for aesthetic reasons it was initially used for cutting with a two-hand grip.

Traditionally katana was a weapon which was worn with its edge up. Because today katana is not used for the same purpose as it was several centuries ago, its usage became obsolete. Nevertheless kenjutsu and iaijutsu turned the traditional use of katana into modern martial arts.

Today original katanas are very expensive and hard to find. Concerning the construction of katana – it is a quite simple one. It has a curved blade. Its grind is classical, meaning it is one-sided. The long handle of katana is covered by a shark skin. The sword's hand is protected by a round and sometimes figured flat guard made either from steel or bronze - tsuba. Traditionally tsuba was decorated my various paintings and engravings.

With no doubt the main part of the sword is considered to be its blade. The technology of creating the famous katana blade made this weapon known worldwide. There is little known about the ritual of creating the blade since it is till nowadays kept in secret.

The swordsmith that made the blade was the one to do the entire job, while wearing his best dress clothes. He belonged to the warrior class just like the samurai. The secrets of creating a katana sword were kept till the sword master's death, and because there was no written documentation the secret was lost forever.