Buying a Katana

PH4T

I'm looking to buy a katana (and possibly a wakizashi) as a centrepiece for a room. It would need to be good quality.

Is there anywhere in Ireland that I could get this?

Quillo

If its strictly for display purposes then just hit www.eBay.ie and search - there are 1000's of Japanaese swords for sale there, many sold as sets and with attractive stands.

If you intend to use it for tameshigiri, then I'd recommend something like the Cold Steel Warrior Series Katana. Hard to beat in terms of price/performance. 1050 spring tempered steel. Holds an edge well and is very strong. Can be bought in the UK for around the €350 mark from www.blades-uk.com (normal RRP I think is around €500)

HammerHeadGym

Short answer is no. Not in Ireland.
If you don't mind splashing out try bugei.com. Some excellent stuff on their site. Very high quality. Some cool clips on there too.

septern

check

www.tozando.com

under the iaido section you can buy training swords + also some antique ones also

MaeveD

PH4T.... it all depends on what kind of money you want to spend and what kind of quality you want... you can buy a katana for €20-€60,000+.

Theres a place on upper abbey street with some really cheap ones for sale in the window...

If you're after something really nice but not crazy money maybe look at a handmade Paul Chen...

If your interested in something very special, my brother collects Japanese antique swords etc. Pm me and i'll give you his contact details and maybe he can help you find what your looking for... or point you in the right direction

Clive

PH4T wrote:

I'm looking to buy a katana (and possibly a wakizashi) as a centrepiece for a room. It would need to be good quality.

Just to clarify - do you mean good quality as in, it looks nice, has a good finish, and would be a lovely centrepiece that won't be played with?

If so, there's the Mullens on the corner of Capel St./Mary St., a place on Upper Abbey St. and a few others dotted around.

If it's good quality as in an actual usable sword then you'll have to look further afield.

Musashi

As the others have mentioned, if it's just for display purposes then E-Bay, Blades-UK or even the original Battle Orders will do a set for not much money.

DO NOT however swing these display pieces around playing "Highlander"

Generally they are made of untempered steel and utilise a "rat tail" tang so can snap at the hilt. No fun having three feet of steel sailing through the air randomly :eek:

For something useable for cutting I like the Cold Steel or Paul Chen "Practical Katana" or for better fittings the Chen "Practical Plus" katana. You could also try "Ragged Staff" and see if he's got any stock in. His site is http://rsknives.co.uk/chenness.html, and you can read a review of one of his swords here. http://rsknives.co.uk/review.html

For a cutting sword you are generally better getting a Carbon steel blade rather than a Stainless one. Carbon steel is more forgiving of impact and is usually not as brittle as stainless. Of course steel type and heat treat (tempering) have a marked effect on durability and hardness. Carbon steel need more care to prevent rust as well, but can have a gorgeous Hamon resulting from the traditional clay quench tempering process. You might be interested in his Iato, sort of a non sharpened sword for Kata practice. Blades in Stainless or Aluminium so low maintenance, and blunt so less dangerous. They are still not toys and could still cause serious injuries if messed with. I hear good things from guys who own cheness sword, hope this helps you choose what you want.

Roper

I thought a Hanso sword was the best... no?

My mate bought a sword a while back to put on his fireplace, I swear in North Dublin, it doesn't look tacky AT ALL. Anyway, he thought he'd have a bit of craic with it with a few jars on him and try to cut some cheese for a sandwich, sorry, a sangwidge... and it wouldn't cut it, wasn't sharp enough. Oh how we laughed. Crazy Katana sword defeated by cheddar. I've taken to carrying a lump of edam around in my pocket on case some sword wielding maniac comes at me.

MaeveD

Must be a northside thing... we have a VERY nice tanto on the mantlepiece sharpness of 50, you could shave with it ... not meant for cutting cheese, we have a cheese knife for that!

To quote my bro when he gave me a loan of his 12th century katana - "you can cut anything you like with it... as long as it's flesh and bone"

Clive

I know most people have seen it, but it's so damn funny:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7e77oXjFkIs

Musashi

What about a Burmese Dha or Indian Talwar, or some Western pattern blade? A nice Cavalry Sabre or a "Pirate" cutlass (me hearty), or a German Grosse Messer or.... well you get the idea.

Does it have to be a Katana and Wak. or would a Rapier and Ballock dagger suit as well? One time it would have been the "Krom" sword of Conan The Barbarian was more sought after. Any and all of these (and more) are available in any quality grade you like, depending on what you want to pay. Check some of the older pattern Celtic and Norse swords, they had pattern welded damascus steel blades thousands of years before the Japanese!

And Hattori Hanzo don't make the best swords, though there are a couple of brothers in Japan producing swords now that experts feel are as good as any of the antique swords. They have re-discovered lost techiques, such as how to differentially heat across the whole blade so a "Ghost" or "Shadow" Hamon appears above the actual Hamon. There is a Japanese sword lingo term for this but I forget. If Maeves' brother is interested I can probably get their contact info.?

If you do with a trad. Carbon steel Katana, get the blade care kit as well, it's got the oils and such to treat the blade with to keep it in good nick, mainly Camelia and Clove oils I think?

MaeveD

Musashi wrote:

If Maeves' brother is interested I can probably get their contact info.?

Sure, thanks Musashi pm me with it if it's not too much trouble... and I'll pass it on to him!

PH4T

Clive wrote:

Just to clarify - do you mean good quality as in, it looks nice, has a good finish, and would be a lovely centrepiece that won't be played with?

If so, there's the Mullens on the corner of Capel St./Mary St., a place on Upper Abbey St. and a few others dotted around.

If it's good quality as in an actual usable sword then you'll have to look further afield.

Yes I mean the former, it would be for display purposes only, it would never be used.

Musashi

Yoshindo Yoshihara and his brother Kuniiye (given name Shoji),are the smiths.
Their work can be seen here http://www.legacyswords.com/Yoshiharanihonto.htm
here http://www.nihontoantiques.com/g51.htm
and this is a little about Yoshihara http://en.kagemusha.it/content/view/22/1/

His swords go for around 3,000,000 yen and he might not sell to westerners? Nice to look at though!

Another nice site for forged blades (cambodia made I think?) is http://www.citadel.com.kh/

Hope these help Maeve



And from another site for the Hanzo lovers


"Hattori Hanzo (1541-1596) was a member of one of the greatest Ninja families that came out of the Iga mountains, unlike many of the families of that period the Hanzo Clan weren't Watari ( for sale to the highest bidder), but were fiercely Loyal to Tokugawa Ieysau (the Shogun).

Hattori Hanzo was known for many exploits of Courage and loyalty to Tokugawa and frequent reference is made to him in connection with the Koga Ninja Taro Shiro, and the exploits they got up to in the service of the Tokugawa Shogunate these exploits earned hattori hanzo the nick names of 'the Ghost' and later ' the devil'

Hattori was an Iga Ninja but he became remembered as a Samurai due to the fact he followed the code of Bushido and also due to political manipulation of the Period.

Within Japanese culture songs are still song of Hattori Hanzo's exploits and unswerving Loyalty."

Roper

Hanzo also said "verrrry gooood, you say origato like we say origato". Don't forget that.