Note 7 — NOTES, AUTHORITIES, AND ILLUSTRATIONS
Reading edition
Footnote 7:
(return)
One of the many names of Japan is that of the Country Ruled by a Slender Sword, in allusion to the clumsy weapons employed by the Chinese and Koreans. See, for the shortening and lightening of the modern Japanese sword (katana) as compared with the long and heavy (ken) of the "Divine" (kami) or uncivilized age, "The Sword of Japan; Its History and Traditions," T.A.S.J., Vol. II., p. 58.