Ninjato

When my mom dropped $200 cash on me for my birthday (a big surprise BTW) I had all kinds of things I could spend it on. But I tend to look at cash and gift certificates like this: spend it on something you normally wouldn't buy. Because that's usually what gifts are. You don't buy someone a gift certificate for an oil change for a reason. Gifts are superfluous, fun things. So I bought a ninja sword.

Like I said before: I'm a geek, through and through.

I've been thinking a lot lately of another visit to Japan: our 5th anniversary is coming up next year, I'm enrolled in Japanese language class at the local community college, and I just had a blast playing Tenchu Z. I love my katana that I bought in Kyoto four years ago, and I plan on getting another one next time I visit. I certainly do not plan on getting a ninja sword in Japan, not to mention it would be hard to find. The Ninjato as we know it never existed. It is a construct of Japanese film, Hollywood, and anime. The exact origin of the straight sword and square tsuba design seems to be unknown. But it is known to be not historically accurate by any means. So this sword is purely a celebration of the pop culture ninja. So that's why I would feel silly buying a ninja sword in Japan. Instead, I bought a Hanwei Ninjato.

Hanwei is a Chinese company that manufactures many functional historical swords of all types. Martial artists actually use Hanwei swords because they are functional, rugged, and much cheaper then true Japanese swords, or nihonto. So practice and destroy the cheap ones while the authentic ones sit safely on your wall. This sword is made for business. While not folded, it is differentially hardened, and it has a real hamon to prove it. The guys at Sword-Buyers-Guide.com did a review, and they have plenty of video to show how sharp this thing is. I've read that folding is only a matter of tradition today anyways. They used to do it to improve the carbon content of the steel, but that is unnecessary today - though it also makes for a beautiful effect on the blade. Point is, a lot of swords made today are as good as the classics.

So this sword is kick ass. It has all the details that make it feel like a "real" ninja sword: black colors, hamon, flat black saya, square tsuba, and it even has a kamasu-kissaki (the striaght line tip, where others are traditionally curved). More pictures here.

Oh and BTW, I'm adding Edo Wonderland to my todo list for Japan. The ninjas sold me, lol.

And I never posted a pic of it, so here is my Kyoto sword: