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May 31, 20232 min read

Japan - Damascus Steel/Knives

From Syria (and the Levant) all the Way to Japan

The original Damascus steel swords may have been made in the vicinity of Damascus, Syria, in the period from 900 AD to as late as 1750 AD. Damascus steel is a type of steel alloy that is both hard and flexible, a combination that made it ideal for the building of swords. It is said that when Damascus-made swords were first encountered by Europeans during the Crusades it garnered an almost mythical reputation—a Damascus steel blade was said to be able to cut a piece of silk in half as it fell to the ground, as well as being able to chop through normal blades, or even rock, without losing its sharp edge. Recent metallurgical experiments, based on microscopic studies of preserved Damascus-steel blades, have claimed to reproduce a very similar steel via possible reconstructions of the historical process.


“Damascus” steel used for Japanese knives now is different from original Damascus steel.




Pattern of original Damascus steel appears in the process of its forging. It is said that Wootz steel was extremely sharp. It is very surprising that Woots steel did not get rusted despite of its sharpness. If that helps, original Damascus steel cannot be made now although many scientists tried to make it many times.


Damascus knives are made with Damascus steel that is made by folding back steel many times. The number of wavy lines on knives is the number of layers. In most cases, the numbers are 16, 32, and 64. Steel should be originally folded back again in the process of forging, but if smithy does so, it costs a lot, so steel itself has already many layers in most cases now.


The sharpness of Damascus knives is almost the same as that of normal knives. It is not that Damascus knives are specially sharp. Its look and feed is beautiful, so the price of Damascus knives is set high.

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