Katanas
Katanas
A katana is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands.
All of our katanas are crafted using traditional method, we choose only high quality material for the blade, such as carbon steel, manganese steel, T10 steel, spring steel and more. Our focus on details makes each piece a work of art, and they are also battle ready quality.
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What is a Real Katana?
The katana is a type of sword developed in Japan during the later part of the Heian period, roughly 794 -1192 AD. It was used by the samurai of feudal Japan, both as a weapon and as a symbol of their rank, it remains both useful as a weapon and a spiritual object. This symbolic weapon is refined and elegant, but also powerful and ready for anything.
If you are looking to buy a katana, it’s easy to find many options online, but be careful, many of them are selling katana swords for display only, the blade is soft stainless steel, the fittings are plastic, it’s more of a toy, not a weapon or an artwork as the word “Katana” suppose to mean. If you are new to katana swords, we recommend you to get a real katana, because it’s a whole new level experience when you own one.
But what counts as “real Katana”? Technically, only swords handmade in Japan can be called “authentic katana”, In Japanese it is called “nihonto”. Authentic katana will easily cost you more than $10,000, because making one is a very labor intensive and time consuming job, and there are only around 300 swordsmiths in Japan now. Antique Katana will cost you even higher. So if you are thinking about buying an authentic Katana, we recommend you to plan a trip to Japan, even just for buying the sword, it will be worth it.
We do not call our katanas authentic because that will be a mistake. What we made and sell here, is real katana, in Japanese it’s called “Shinken”, means they are forged and sharpened (of course you can choose not to sharpen the edge), fully functional and battle ready. If you are thinking about buying a real Katana, this is the right place.
If you are interested in learning more about Katana, here is a guide we made for beginners.
Why you should buy from us
We respect and follow the traditional katana hand making process, what you will get from us is a real katana sword that’s out of box useable, sturdily built, high quality steel blade with proper heat treatment, sharp edge that will easily slice the tatami mat (proper skill required), tight wrapping handle designed for maximum comfort and grip, well-crafted details make it a great artwork. It’s pretty much same as nihonto, except we make them in China, substitute some of the manual work (the ones that won’t effect quality) with machines to lower down the total cost significantly. That’s how we can bring you high quality katanas at such competitive price, for as low as about $100, you can get a handmade functional katana from us.We welcome all genuine feedback of our products, there are plenty of our product review available online. We are not perfect, but we keep making our product well worth the price, and excess your expectation.
Sword Recommendation:
If you are new to swords, we have a large selection of swords under $200 price range. Most of them are made of carbon steel or manganese steel. They are great choice for beginner to practice.If you are practicing your tameshigiri skills, or want to slice all sort off plastic bottles, branches, fruits in half, our spring steel katanas is a great choice. Traditional high carbon steel katana is hard but also means it’s more brittle. When you try to cut hard things (which we don’t recommend for safety reason) like bones, hard branches, it has bigger possibility to break and might accidentally damage you or there others around. Spring steel is way more flexible, it will bounce back even you bend it 90 degree, you will be much safer using spring steel for hard core cutting tasks.
If you want to appreciate the beauty of traditional Japanese sword making technique, don’t miss our clay tempered sword collection. One of the most unique thing that make Katana so special among all the famous weapon in the world, is the hamon line in the blade. The hamon was the result of a traditional heat treatment process called clay tempered, which makes the edge hard and the spine will remain flexible.
Our Damascus steel, also known as pattern steel swords are another great addition to your sword collection. We mixed different carbon steel and manganese steel, to create a strong and aesthetic blade that’s functional, and a delight to look at.
Want something more unique? We have a wide range of colored blade katana as well. Unlike those exaggerated fancy swords, our colored blades are not printed, the color is result of the heating the steel, iron and oxygen will react and create a thin oxide layer with color. It looks more nature and fascinating.
We offer plenty different color theme katana swords, different color saya, sageo and tsuka available for you to choose. If you choose Katana as a representation of your personality, color will be a big part of it. Of course if you can’t find the right match, you can build your own katana with us!
Katana parts explained
Katana is art, and we are not just talking about the blade, every little part of a Katana is art and science. Here we will give a brief introduction to the important parts of a katana:
1) The blade
The blade is the most distinct part of a katana, the curve was designed to strengthen the cutting power. In ancient Japan, a good katana blade should be made of “tamahagane”, means “precious steel”. Nowadays modern steel has better performance and price, making katana more affordable to everyone.
2) The Saya (scabbard)
Saya is a wooden sheath for a Japanese sword. They are traditionally made from wood and lacquer, they are able to protect the blade from scratches and rust. There are many styles and colors, Saya is an important part of Katana art especially for display.
Traditionally, a plain wood saya (and tsuka) made exclusively for store the katana for a long time is called “Shirasaya”. But we also have unconventional Shirasaya katanas with artful designs here.
3) Tsuba (handguard)
Tsuba is a metal piece to protect the user’s hands and adjust the balance. Other than the protection function, Tsuba itself is a an exquisite artworks that symbolize status and class.
FAQ
How long does shipping take?
To provide better customer experience, we select UPS / SF express as our standard shipping partner. Shipping normally takes about 10-15 days.
Can I buy or own Katana legally?
We been shipping swords all over the world and know a thing or two about each’s country restriction, here are our thoughts based on our experience, this does not constitute as legal suggestion. Please always check your local laws before buying a katana, we don’t take responsibility for any customs problems, please check our shipping page.
Katana legality in North America
United States and Canada might be the most Katana friendly countries in the world. As long as you are over 18 years old, it’s totally fine to buy and own a Katana in Canada and United States. Except for concealable types of swords, like cane swords, Zatoichi swords, they could pose potential harm to the public and therefore banned in the state of California and New York. There are no strict laws against owning a katana sword, but remember, do not carry it openly in public, there might be laws for that, and for safety reason you shouldn’t do that as well.
Mexico is also a good place to buy katana, People might under the wrong impression that Mexico is a difficult country to receive sword shipments, but from our experience shipping with UPS to Mexico, all our amigos get their orders on time and hassle free.
For reference only, of all shipments we send to United States, Canada & Mexico, we have 0 shipment encounter customs problems.
Katana legality in Oceania
Swords are legal to own in Australia and New Zealand, we have many customer there without hearing any law related problems. We find shipping to Australia and New Zealand a pleasure because shipping time is faster (usually less than 10 days) , and without any customs problem.
Katana legality in European
There are many countries and many laws, most of them allows importation and owning a katana sword. But UK is different, it’s difficult to ship knives and swords to UK, most of the time it will be stopped and even confiscated by the customs, in a few cases, our customers applied for a special permit to clear the shipment out.
Speak from our experience, the countries we have shipped katana to without any problems are:
France
Germany
Netherlands
Sweden
Norway
Finland
Denmark
Switzerland
Austria
Katana legality in South America
We have shipped many shipments to Colombia and Chile and so far haven’t have any problems.
What can a katana cut thought
One of the most famous misconception about Katana is that katana can cut through steel, even rocks. They go as far to claim that katana is the best edged weapon. That is because katana is often portrayed as a very powerful weapon in moves and videos games, if you haven’t swing a real katana, you might actually think that Katana can cut a tank in half.
The truth is, destroying hard objects are task of axe, not swords. All weapons are designed to serve different purposes. Katana was designed for cutting, slashing, but not against a full armored enemy, even back in ancient Japan, Japanese armor wasn’t as thick as the European armor, Katana wasn’t the primary choice of weapon, spear (Yari) is far more common in the battlefield than Katana, because it’s cheaper to make, easier to train, and more efficient to kill. Dull weapons like hammer are designed to tackle armor, not swords.
It's thrilling to hold your first katana, and want to cut stuff with it. But unless you want to put you katana into ultimate test and push it to it’s limit, we don’t recommend cutting against hard objects like steel, rock, hard woods etc. They will certainly damage the edge and the blade, and if you are not skilled enough you might get hurt as well.
For cutting test (Tameshigiri), we recommend water bottles, pool noodles, and the best choice is the tatami mat. When you are skilled enough, you can also try bamboos. Remember, always be careful handling the sword, they are real weapons, not toys.
There are 3 types of Katana right? Do you sell the short ones?
Yes, from long to short , the 3 katanas are called Katana, Wakizashi and Tanto. A pair of long and short swords are called Daishō (大小, literally means big and small). Usually a katana and wakizashi, it could be a katana and tanto. You can find our wakizashi and tanto selection here, as well as some 2 or 3 katana set here.
We also have straight bladed katana, also called Ninjato.
How to maintain my Katana
A typical katana blade is high in carbon, which makes Katana hard and sharp, but high carbon steel will rust if you don’t maintain it properly. Keeping your katana rust free isn’t difficult, and doesn’t require any professional skills. Remember 2 things will be good enough for most cases:
Clean your sword after each cutting test, if you are cutting objects with liquid, might as well clean the blade after each cut. Using a dry towel is enough, but if you are cutting stuff with acidic liquid, for example an orange, you can use a wet towel to clean out the liquid, then use dry towel again. Fruit juice will rust you blade faster.
When you are not using the sword, remember to apply oil all over the blade. This will minimize the contact with air and will not rust the blade. For more details you can check our Katana maintenance guide here.
What makes Katana so special
Katana embodies the soul of the Samurai wielding it. When we talk about Katana, there are many things about it, the myth, the material, the cool design, the power, but the foundation of everything fascinating about Katana, is that Katana is the sword of Samurai.
The concept of Bushido is a way of life to the Samurai. It's about loyalty, self discipline, respectfulness, and ethical behavior. In