Thaitsuki – Orasaku Zukuri Honsanmai Katana

Thaitsuki Nihonto specializes in melding blades of excellent quality with distinguished and elevated koshirae hilt fittings and a premium saya scabbard. Where other brands will cut corners on the finer points of fit and finish of koshirae and blade polish, Thaitsuki Nihonto follows through to create an exquisitely well crafted sword which has had the attention of a skilled craftsman hand-finishing each step to ensure an excellent fit and finish throughout. From Thaitsuki you can expect to see blades of skillfully forged steel, a superb blade polish, components of higher quality metals, a well-knotted grip wrap, finely lacquered scabbard, high quality samegawa rayskin, and close attention paid to details such as a tight and flush fit between the scabbard opening and its encased koiguchi.

The Orasaku Zukuri Honsanmai Katana from Thaitsuki has a sweeping blade with a distinctive Shobu-Zukuri kissaki which gives the blade an uninterrupted, graceful form which has been forged into form by a highly skilled bladesmith. The blade features a traditional Honsanmai laminated construction which meld panels of forge-folded high carbon steel together to form a composite blade with an inner core of shock absorbing steel of 35 Hrc for resilience and an exterior of hardened 65 Hrc steel to ensure it has excellent edge retention and resistance to wear. The blade edge and its side panels are formed from folded T8 high carbon steel and this has been melded with a core and spine of folded T10 high carbon steel. After the folding process of its components the blade possesses a total of 1024 individual layers. A closer look at the blade will reveal the ripple-like patterning of the folded steel, as well as a faint line denoting where the hardened edge steel was forge-welded into form. Visible among this is also the wave-like hamon line which was created when the blade was clay tempered in the traditional manner to imbue it with a genuine hamon of hardened steel. The blade was completed with a high level of polish which was painstakingly executed to give it a fine sheen which highlights the beauty of its complex construction and its hamon.

The sword is matched with a premium quality koshirae to properly match the blade. The habaki and seppa are crafted from fine silver and the tsuba is antiqued blackened copper. Matching these are a fuchi and kashira of silver to surmount the grip. The wooden tsuka grip is matched with a high quality samegawa rayskin which is overlaid in well-knotted tsuka ito cord. Individual attention from a skilled craftsman ensures that these components are well-fitted and seamlessly matched.

The saya scabbard is well-carved from wood and finished with many layers of carefully applied, smooth dark red lacquer which is offset with fittings of fine silver. The craftsman ensured a smooth fit between sword and scabbard, and attention was paid to ensure that the scabbard components are carefully fitted together to ensure that components are flush and well-fitted. The saya is finished with a knotted white and maroon sageo cord. Included is a silk sword bag for storage and transport and a signed production certificate from the manufacturer.

PLEASE NOTE: There may be some minor to moderate cosmetic blemishing present on the scabbard and minor blemishing on the blade. These are handcrafted and hand-finished so minor cosmetic imperfections may be present.