In the history of Japan, there was a legend from the smiths of Yamato Province. The legend was about that the smith Amakumi in Yamato about A. D. 700 who made the first samurai sword. It all began when Amakumi and his son gathered and examined the sword remnants after they found that nearly half [...]

KUBIKIRI TANTO
(BOKUWARI or HANAKIRI TANTO)
The Kubikiri tanto dated from the Meiji to early Showa eras. It is a period when most sword makers and koshirae artists had little work making traditional swords. The term “kubikiri” is traditionally translated as “head cutter”. The kubikiri (kubigiri) is a Japanese tanto with an unusual form. The cutting [...]

Your profound interest in samurai swords may have led you to build your own sword collection. It sounds exciting as a new hobby especially for young collectors. This hobby, however, needs to be taken seriously as it demands for maturity and discipline. What is the next step after you finally gotten yourself your own samurai [...]