Japanese swordsmithing is the labour-intensive bladesmithing process developed in Japan for forging traditionally made bladed weapons (nihonto) including katana, wakizashi, tanto, yari, naginata, nagamaki, tachi, uchigatana nodachi, ōdachi, kodachi, and ya (arrow).

Japanese sword blades were often forged with different profiles, different blade thicknesses, and varying amounts of grind. Wakizashi and tanto were not simply scaled-down katana; they were often forged in hira-zukuri or other such forms which were very rare on katana.

The steel used is known as Tamahagane (玉鋼:たまはがね^?), or "jewel steel" (tama - ball or jewel, hagane - steel). Tamahagane is produced from iron sand, a source of iron ore, and mainly used to make Samurai swords, such as the katana, and some tools.

The smelting process used is different from the modern mass production of steel. A clay vessel about 4 ft (1.2 m) tall, 12 ft (3.7 m) long, and 4 ft (1.2 m) wide is constructed. This is known as a tatara. After the clay tub has set, it is fired until dry. A charcoal fire is started from soft pine charcoal. Then the smelter will wait for the fire to reach the correct temperature. At that point he will direct the addition of iron sand known as satetsu. This will be layered in with more charcoal and more iron sand over the next 72 hours. Four or five people need to constantly work on this process. It takes about a week to build the tatara and complete the iron conversion to steel. The steel is not allowed to become fully molten, and this allows both high and low carbon material to be created and separated once cooled. When complete, the Tatara is broken to remove the steel bloom, known as a kera. At the end of the process the tatara will have consumed about 10 short tons (9.1 t) of satetsu and 12 short tons (11 t) of charcoal leaving about 2.5 short tons (2.3 t) of kera, from which less than a ton of tamahagane can be produced.

Walter Sorrells is an award-winning author of mystery and suspense novels for adults and teens. He has written many novels, including Fake I.D., named one the ten Best Mysteries by Booklist magazine in 2005 and several novels based-on the television series Flight 29 Down. He also writes under the pseudonyms Lynn Abercrombie and Ruth Birmingham. He graduated from Harvard College in 1985, where he majored in History.

His novel Fulton County Blues, as Ruth Birmingham, won the 2000 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original.

Paul Edgar Philippe Martin PC, CC (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin, Jr., is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

On November 14, 2003, Martin succeeded Jean Chrétien as leader of the Liberal Party and became prime minister on December 12, 2003. After the 2004 election, his Liberal Party retained power, though it was reduced to a minority government. Forced by a confidence vote, the 2006 general election produced a minority government for the opposition Conservative Party, making Stephen Harper prime minister. Martin stepped down as parliamentary leader after the election, handing the reins to Bill Graham for the interim. Martin stayed on as party leader until he resigned on March 18, being eventually succeeded by Stephane Dion.

Martin served as the Member of Parliament for the riding of LaSalle—Émard in Montreal from his election in the 1988 election to his retirement in 2008. He served as Minister of Finance from 1993 to 2002. He oversaw many changes in the financial structure of the Canadian government, and his policies had a direct effect on eliminating the country's chronic fiscal deficit by reforming various programs including social services.