RYUJIN Hatamoto Series 41" KO Katana (23.5" Blade) Hand Forged 1060 Carbon Steel Through Hardened Shinogi Zukuri No-Hi Blade w/Real Ray Skin Handle …

My only gripe is the saya/scabbard is katana size, not ko/chisa katana size. Other than that, this is a much higher quality ko katana than I was expecting. If I understand correctly, this maker Ryujin split from another shop, but then sold his inventory to “Vortex Knives” who sells on Amazon. Anyway, honest overall length is about 36.5 inches. It’s a yardstick. Everything on the handle side of the tsuba is about 12” and the blade side is about 24”. Real hamon, real ray skin, featureless black oval tsuba, VERY sharp. Unwrapped it, cleaned it up, cut some sheets of paper, cut the cardboard boxes it came in, oiled it and put it away. Not too long for indoor use, not too short for outdoors and proper cutting form, it’s the porridge Goldilocks picked. Just a solid, well constructed, plain-jane utilitarian ko katana. I like it.

I managed to roll the blade while cutting soft targets on the first day, which is surprising for a clay tempered blade. Typically with hardened high carbon steel sword blades you would expect chipping (not rolling) when hitting a hard target like wood or even a thick plastic bottle but no damage using tami mats. I used my file and found several spots on the blade and spine that were between 40-45 hrc. This would be expected for non hardened steel. Cutting mats should not cause a rolled edge even with bad form. I have other 1060 high carbon steel swords with hrc 55 that I use for first time cutters, never rolled any edges, a few chips from them hitting the stand.

I recently purchased a Ryujin Gunto that impressed me enough to give this sword a try. I also have prior experience using a Chisa Katana or Ko Katana in Iaido, and it's kind of a "cheat" allowing for a faster draw and handling. It's also a bit easier to use indoors for those of us that have limited practice space. This particular sword is impressively well-made. Everything is nicely fit. The Tsuka has a nice "waist" taper which makes it very comfortable in hand. The Tsuba, Fuchi and Kashira are cast and painted, but the casting of the Fuchi and Kashira is very well done. (Also the Fuchi and Kashira are ferrous, though oddly the Tsuba isn't.) The ray skin is real and the Ito is tight. The Menuki are the same kind of "Vajra" designs seen on Musashi Sliver Series swords. As for the blade, it's nicely polished, no flaws, and does indeed have a real Hamon temper line. It's quite evenly sharp, and cuts well, though the shorter blade (about 4" shorter than the average full-size katana) does reduce the natural cutting power somewhat, so cutting takes a bit more "oomph" on the part of the wielder, and you have to compensate for the reduced reach. I was a little concerned that the 12" Tsuka would unbalance the shorter blade and make it unwieldy, but it handles very well, and is light in hand without feeling too light. It does come with a basic, full-size Saya (which will take a full-length sword) that has the (plastic?) reinforcing ring at the mouth common to Musashi swords. I did have an initial struggle getting the blade out of the scabbard, but that was due to the plastic wrap the blade came in (keeping the packing grease out of the scabbard) making a wedge with the Habaki--the fact that it being so tight (I had to use a mallet to free it) didn't crack the Saya gives me confidence in it's build quality. Overall, I'm very pleased, especially considering the price, and becoming a fan of Ryujin build quality, putting them at least on par with Musashi swords.