An Authentic Japanese Sword? Review of Musashi’s $2,000+ Yasha Katana...While it isn’t an authentic Japanese sword (after all, it is made in China) - the ‘Yasha’ model SS674 comes extremely close to approximating the handling and performance capabilities of the real thing... Commissioned by Musashi Swords and made at the forge of the legendary Chinese sword artisan, Chris Zhou, in this review, we will be taking a close look at a sword that costs some 8 to 10 times that of the typical Katana reviewed at Sword Buyers Guide – and answer the question just what the extra money will get you... ...And determine if spending more money will automatically guarantee you the sword of your dreams...
With an average online price tag of US$2,000 - $2,500 the Yasha falls into the highest end of the production Katana world. A far cry from the US$10,000-$30,000 price tag of an authentic Japanese sword made in Japan (Nihonto) – as far as performance and aesthetics go, many swords in this price range come quite close... Laminated (San Mai), Folded around 14 times to produce over 8000 layers and then hand clayed in the traditional way – the construction of the blade itself is a time consuming process – and not so very different from that used to make an authentic Japanese Sword (Nihonto). So it should come as no surprise then that I was expecting quite a bit for the $$$ when this sword finally arrived. Now at this stage I should point out that I did not actually buy this sword – it was loaned to me unconditionally by the owner of Musashi Swords, Mr. Sam Sung to review – without any expectations or without any strings attached. He just wanted to get my impressions of it – good, bad or indifferent. So I feel a little bad being too critical here – but I must tell it like I see it... The box it came in was big – much wider than usual. And apart from the obvious reason, to protect the somewhat expensive sword within, it also contained a large assortment of accessories including:
While all of this stuff was a nice bonus, I was of course more concerned with the sword itself... “And here, I must admit that my first impressions were not hugely positive...” Looking at it within its saya, it did not really jump out at me as anything special. Indeed, side by side with the $179 Wind Katana – also by Zhou’s forge – I could barely see any aesthetic difference...
Yes, the ito maki wrapping of the tsuka was tight. And the same was real of course, but just as with the Wind Katana, it was not even a full wrap! And the menuki ornaments were golden ‘somethings’, but so far there was really NO difference between the $179 Katana! My heart was sinking...
At this point I’ll admit to thinking that the blade had better be something special! And while you can see a peak of it in the picture of the tsuba, when I unveiled it for the first time – I realized where all of this swords effort were concentrated... ”The blade was, quite simply awe inspiring!” Fittings aside, just looking at the blade – it would be possible to mistake it for a considerably more expensive authentic Japanese sword.
As you may know, the claying process used to create the famous razor sharp edge of an authentic Japanese sword – making the edge hard (in this case a HRC of 57) and the spine supple (HRC 40) as a by product creates the famous temper line known as a hamon. Somewhere between a Sanbon-sugi and Gunome style hamon, tilt it one way and it is subtle indeed. But catch it in the right light and it literally jumps up out of the steel at you, dazzling in its beauty.
Of course, the hamon itself was not the only beautiful thing about this blade. It was polished so well and so beautifully that, as you can see from the image below, that when reflecting a nearby object – in this case some leaves from a tree – the blade literally almost becomes invisible!
Yes, it was very obvious where the money in this sword had been spent. But the blade was more than a pretty show thing... This is a user sword, designed for traditional cutting applications. You can feel that the moment you hold it in your hands. It is so light (2.31lbs) and well balanced (PO B approx 5” from the tsuba), it hardly even feels like it is there. Yet cut the empty air, and it springs immediately into life – the bo-hi (fuller) creating a distinct and very pleasant Tachi Kaze (sword wind sound). To say I was looking forward to testing this sword was an understatement!! Naturally though, before doing any cutting I carefully disassembled the sword – removing the single mekugi peg (not uncommon for authentic Japanese sword), and gently tapped the tsuba off. The friction fit was superb, something I have come to expect from Musashi’s Chris Zhou swords like the Wind Katana. Indeed, to be honest, there were no appreciable differences between the assembly of these two swords, they were practically identical (which says a lot for the $179 Wind Katana...)
With everything in order, it was time to get down to business...
TEST CUTTING Now I should say at this point that just casually touching the edge of this blade revealed that it was indeed extremely sharp, but perhaps not as sharp as you might expect. My own experience told me quite clearly that how it felt often had little to do with a swords given cutting ability. A quick paper cutting test revealed that this sword most certainly delivered the goods. But I had done such a test on many other swords considerably less expensive – so to further test the keenness of the edge I proceeded to snip the tops of a few leaves that were there in the background, slicing them with nothing more than the slightest pass... And I could not resist a swipe at the branch itself, cutting it cleanly in two – so easily that I felt no resistance and the blade bit deeply into the much thicker branch beneath... Yes, this was going to be fun alright...
Now of course, trees and leaves are not the usual kinds of targets for an authentic Japanese sword. The best and most traditional target modern practitioners use is – Tatami Omote, one of my favourites. Now normally, I have a very bad habit of striking considerably harder than is necessary when cutting Tatami. Maybe it is because, when I test a sword for the first time, I simply cannot be certain if it will go through or not – so I tend to overpower my strikes. But for these tests, I decided that – since this sword was the closest to an authentic Japanese sword I have tested for SBG, I would ease on back and let the blade do all the work. And as you can see from the video – it takes only the barest effort. Because after the cutting, I show clearly just how optimised for the cut this sword is...
I found the way this sword strips away the mats like that to be somewhat disturbing. And imagine that if it run down across someone’s arm, it would remove skin, muscle and bone in much the same way... ”It made me shudder a little to think just what an authentic Japanese sword can do...” Now to be honest, I probably should have left it here. After all, at the end of the day, an authentic Japanese sword was optimised to cut the human body. They weren’t designed for the kind of stuff you see in Anime, video games and movies.
But partly to push this sword to the limit (and beyond) and partly to dispel these myths of the invincibility of the authentic Japanese sword – I asked the owner of the sword, Mr. Sam Sung, if he wanted me to push this sword a little harder... His reply was along the lines of: “I've testing this sword whole pork ribs and cutting 4" live bamboo. Don't worry about trying the hard target! That is the only way to test the sword - good or bad.” Well, having seen this videos of it cutting bamboo and pork ribs, I was quite confident in its structural integrity. But since Sam didn’t seem to mind so much, I decided to up the ante. The target I settled upon was an extremely thick tree limb... Now in case you don’t know, a tree limb is considerably more resilient and dense than a human one...! ;-) So being able to cut through such a target, while not impossible – was not what an authentic Japanese sword had been designed for. While it is true that there are several monosteel (i.e. not clayed and differentially hardened) Katana out there on the market that are highly resistant to bending or breaking – notably properly tempered L6 Tool Steel (ala Howard Clark and more recently Hanwei) and Cheness Cutleries 9260 Spring Steel (such as that of the $250 Tenchi and $280 SGC Katana) – an authentic Japanese sword – with its differentially hardened blade is simply not designed for this kind of abuse. Poorly tempered, it would shatter on impact – sending the blade flying through the air like a missile. And properly tempered, it would take a permanent bend – as the flexible spine and hard edge, once twisted, are unable to be reconciled... I had a feeling that I would regret it. To potentially ruin a $2000 Katana was not something I would like to do every day I can tell you! But for the sake of demonstration of what NOT to do, as well as determining the integrity of the single pinned assembly and the purity of the blade – not to mention to demonstrate to the ignorant nay sayers out there who had bent a sub US$300 differentially hardened Katana and said ‘an authentic Japanese sword would have been fine, and cut through a gun barrel’ or other such nonsense that it was a myth – I was past the point of no return. ‘Warming up’ with a nice slice through some overgrowing tree branches, I prepared the target – and prepared for the worst. Setting up the camera on a tripod, so if the blade or the hilt assembly did indeed break – I would be the only one injured, I let fly with my hardest cut...
As you can see, it took two blows to cut all the way through. But the blade did not come out of it completely unscathed...
Yes, the blade was no longer completely straight. But it had held up better than I had hoped... In some previous JSA training, I had seen even experienced sensei bend the blade of an authentic Japanese sword on a bad cut. But what was interesting is that they did not make a big deal out of it – but rather straightened it on their knee and went back to cutting! Yes, using this method and some patience - it was possible to restraighten the blade (though a more professional method is to use a jig built specifically for this purpose). But while painful to take a perfectly good blade and deform it in this way, I did prove two important things. ONE: An authentic Japanese sword, no matter how nicely it is made, is not immune to taking a set on a bad or incomplete cut. TWO: This sword was amazingly tough for a traditional Katana – the damage could have been far worse, and the cut was extremely deep. CONCLUSION The big question: is this Chinese made approximation of an authentic Japanese sword really worth the money? There is no doubt that the blade is definitely something special. The complicated forging process, involving lamination, folding, claying and polishing was obviously done to a very high standard and is not the kind of thing you can just ‘churn out’. However, I feel that this sword was let down by its overly simplistic fittings.
I would have preferred to do away with the many accessories and have the money spent there invested in more attractive fittings to compliment the blade. While it is intended to be a training tool for an experienced martial artists – and an affordable alternative to an authentic Japanese sword made in Japan, the fittings were no better than that of the Wind Katana – also made by Chris Zhou for Musashi. And the monosteel blade of the Wind Katana was, as I demonstrated in a previous review, considerably more durable... Essentially then, what it boils down to is personal preference. If you are looking for a stunning blade at a 10th of the cost of an authentic Japanese sword, yet made in an almost identical way to extremely high standards, I can heartily recommend this sword as a good choice. On the other hand, if you are a casual hobbyist looking for a functional blade for display and casual backyard cutting, I would recommend the Wind Katana, which is a 10th of the price of the Yasha... As you can see – it is all relative. And yes, while you largely get what you pay for, just spending more money doesn’t automatically guarantee that you will get a sword that best suits your own individual requirements... Which is why, I suppose, why SBG exists in the first place...
I hope this information on this close copy of an authentic Japanese sword has been helpful. To return to A Beginners Guide to Authentic Japanese Swords from An Authentic Japanese Sword? Review of Musashi’s $2,000+ Yasha Katana..., click here
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The hilt assembly of this sword was extremely simple.
The tsuka itself was ok, but again – certainly I expected more on a blade that closely approximated an authentic Japanese sword. And the additional tsuka was more or less the same kind of thing..
I think what struck me most at first was the hamon!
