Michinoku

The Michinoku is a work of art. This sword is our current Premium offering. Featuring Folded steel which is Forge Folded 14 times (for a total of approximately 16,000 layers) as well as a traditional Clay Temper. The Michinoku will offer a beautiful combination of natural Hada and Hamon. In addition the Ito wrap is 100% natural Silk, providing superior handling and function.

We have also upgraded the Saya to be a 100% natural lacquer finish saya with Same Wrap applied near the Koiguchi. The Same wrap adds a very distinct character to the sword, while keeping the esthetics subtle and appealing. In addition it significantly strengthens the saya against cracking and breaking. We have also added 100% real Buffalo Horn fittings to the saya.

The sword is fully sharpened using a 13 stage hand polishing/sharpening process. This process is designed to create an edge that is extremely sharp, and a finish that brings out the character of the sword. The 13 stage process is extremely time consuming, and it is the premium polish we offer for our swords, far superior to both the 10 and 12 stage polish. With the finish on this blade you can expect to see the full character of the steel grain, as well as the temper line on the blade.

Featuring our top quality high carbon steel blade, designed for optimal balance, and handling, this sword offers a more traditional alternative to the many zinc aluminum alloy blades available. Our steel blades have been designed from the ground up, to offer perfect balance for regular Iaido use, reducing the risk of repetitive motion injury from the more common heavy (or poorly balanced) low cost steel swords available.

The fittings on this sword are all made of 100% Iron. These fittings are more traditional, and will offer a superior balance due to the higher weight (pulling the balance closer to the tsuka). In addition Iron fittings are much more durable, and while not reccomended, could even sustain a direct strike (for example if you dropped the sword by accident) with minimal damage. The quality of our Iron fittings is far superior to that of our Alloy line, but they come at a higher cost, which is why we keep the alloy fittings to our Budget series of swords.