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Japanese to English: The History of Japanese Swords General field: Other Detailed field: History
Source text - Japanese 刀の歴史
一般に日本刀と呼ばれるものは、平安時代末期に出現した、反りがあり片刃の刀剣のことを指します。その反りのある最も古いとされる日本刀「童子切安綱（国宝）」（東京国立博物館所蔵）を手がけたのが伯耆国（鳥取県西部）の刀鍛冶「安綱」です。それ以前は、海外の刀と同じように直刃、両刃の直剣でした。出雲国（島根県東部）からは良質な砂鉄が採掘され、政治の中心であった山城国（京都府南部）などに刀工の各流派が現れてきます。鎌倉時代末期には、山城・大和・備前・美濃・相模の5カ国に各地から名工が集まり、その作刀方式は「五箇伝」と呼ばれるようになります。また、日本刀は邪気を払うとされ、日本人は古くからお守りとして身につけてきました。現在は美術品として世界中から愛されているほか、抜刀道などのスポーツ、神様への奉納刀として、脈々と人々の生活の中で受け継がれています。
Translation - English The History of Japanese Swords
Swords which are referred to as Japanese swords (nihonto) are the kind of curved single-edged swords that came into existence toward the end of the Heian period (794-1185).
The sword-smith Yasutsuna from the land of Hoki (in the western part of modern-day Tottori prefecture) forged the oldest of these curved swords, a sword called Dojigiri Yasutsuna (a national treasure, part of the collection of Tokyo National Museum).
Before that, swords made in Japan were straight, double-edged swords similar to those made in the rest of the world.
High-quality iron sand was mined in the land of Izumo (in the eastern part of present-day Shimane-prefecture), and in areas such as Yamashiro (in the southern part of present-day Kyoto prefecture), which was the center of politics, several schools of sword-making appeared.
In the late Kamukura era (1185-1333) sword-smithing techniques from the five lands of Yamashiro, Yamato, Bizen, Mino, and Soshu became collectively known as gokaden (the five traditions).
It is believed that Japanese swords drive away evil spirits, so people have carried them as a talisman since ancient times.
While today Japanese swords are mainly considered works of art, they continue to be part of people's lives, for instance through martial arts such as battodo, and in religion, through worship of the gods using ceremonial swords.
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Translation education
Bachelor's degree - Netherlands Film and Television Academy
Experience
Years of experience: 21. Registered at ProZ.com: Mar 2018. Became a member: Apr 2019.
I'm a native speaker of English as well as Dutch (dual UK/The Netherlands citizenship) and have been living permanently in Japan since 2004.
My language pairs:
Japanese - English
Japanese - Dutch
English - Dutch
Dutch - English
Services I offer include:
Translation / subtitling / localization
/ interpretation Audio recording and
editing Mixing and mastering Video editing Tour planning, Japan travel management, and private guiding, travel concierge, and interpretation services
throughout Japan
I have graduated from The Netherlands Film in Television Academy in Amsterdam specializing in multimedia production. I have also have studied Japanese Language and Culture at Leiden University in The Netherlands for four years.
My specialties are tourism and travel, culinary translations, creating subtitles, and game & software localization.
Member since Apr '19
Expertise