Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Japanese
It's a beautiful sword for display and cutting light targets, but the blade steel is soft, not hardened. The hamon is also not real; it is the cosmetic type made by acid etching the lines and buffing it slightly. The cosmetic hamon lines are also not the same on each side of the blade. A real hamon matches closely on each side. I was looking forward to do heavy cutting with this, but it turned out to be one of the many types of katana that China doesn't use decent steel and/or harden, so i'll just keep it for practicing doing iaido instead. The menuki are also plastic I think. Other than that, it is a very nice looking sword for the money.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
At $100 and being a clay tempered sword I really had low expectations. This sword is very surprising! Well made, balanced, the tsuka is very well done, real ray skin, the ito is tight, and the tsuka a little longer than others which makes the entire katana feel sturdier. It's razor sharp, the hamon is beautiful. It does NOT have a bo-hi or "blood groove", thankfully. The saya is gloss black, and isn't anything exceptional, but does the job. This isn't the most flashy sword, but it's stands apart in all the right places that matter.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New