Cheness Cutlery Ayame Katana Review

The Ayame is the second Shobu Zukuri geometry blade by Cheness cutlery, almost identical to it’s cousin the Kurome (reviewed here on SBG) apart from the tsuba and the more slender and needle like tip.

In this review, we take a look at this particular blade from the perspective of a reasonably new collector to see how it stacks up.

Cheness Ayame Katana

There were a few key things that made me interested in this sword. This being my second sword I wanted something a little different than the first. I liked the idea of a scalpel like tip as scalpels tend to be obscenely sharp and good for cutting stuff. The other major feature that impressed me was the brown wrap over the black same. Lastly, I knew that Cheness has an excellent reputation.

I was very surprised and excited when I took the Cheness sword box out of the shipping box. The sword came in a very nice box with a cool pattern on the outside of it. The inside was a nice gold colored satin type material. Once I got the sword out of the box and cotton sword bag, I was very impressed with the cord (sageo) wrapped around the saya. It was much thicker and looked more professionally wrapped than my Musashi. As for the ordering, shipping, and customer service, there were no problems with any of it.

THE BLADE

One look at this blade and you can tell it is a little different than the “average” Japanese sword. The most obvious difference is of course the tip. The spine, ridge, and edge of the blade all meet together at the point giving the cutting edge a smooth clean line at the tip. This configuration also makes stabbing things very effortless. I imagine that this setup would make the tip a bit more fragile.

The blade is 0.3” wide, 1.25” in height and has no fuller (bo-hi). With the Ayame, you do not get to choose if you want a bo-hi or not as they only come without. Another difference between this sword and others is the hamon. It is a straight line instead of having a wavy pattern.

The blade has a few scuff marks on it but nothing too noticeable. The part where I noticed a few more imperfections was the hardware like the collar (habaki) and spacer (seppa).

THE GRIP (TSUKA)

As I stated earlier, the grip was one of the main aspects that made me interested in this sword. The brown wrap (ito) looks really good with the black same underneath. The cotton wrap is nice and tight and is very comfortable to hold. The ray skin same has been dyed black.

The pegs (mekugi) that hold the wood handle onto the blade are nice and tight. The pegs are typically made with bamboo, but on this sword, only one of them is bamboo while the other is brass just to give a little more security. The ornaments (menuki) are intact although I cannot make out exactly what they are supposed to be.

THE GUARD (TSUBA)

The tsuba is very well done. The black finish looks really good with the black same on the handle. It looks more intricate than some of the other tsubas I’ve seen. It almost seems like it would be a bit more fragile than say that of the Cheness Tenchi as it is a bit thinner. I’m sure it will still fulfil it’s duty of preventing my hands from sliding onto the blade *shudders*.

THE SAYA

The saya is very well done also. The black lacquer finish is beautiful. It is smooth and shiny. The cord (sageo) is thick and very tightly wrapped.

My only complaint with the saya is the opening where the sword fits into is not a nice clean opening. I think that the sword should also fit a little tighter in the saya than it does.

TEST CUTTING

This being only my second sword I wasn’t very interested in damaging it. That could change over time but for now I decided to cut only milk jugs, cardboard boxes and a piece of paper. I would have liked to cut some tatami mats but I don’t have any and I’m kinda cheap so I figured free milk jugs would suffice.

This sword handles great. It may be a little heavier than the other cheness models that have a bo-hi but that doesn't seem to make too much of a difference when wielding this slicing machine. It does feel very well balanced.

VIDEO: Test Cutting Basic test cutting on water bottles and a paper cutting demonstration

The Ayame went through the milk jugs as if I were cutting the air (even with my not so good form). There was very little resistance and I definitely didn’t swing very hard. The Ayame exceeded my expectations in dispatching a few milk jugs =).

CONCLUSION

The Ayame seems to be a very well built beautiful looking sword. As it is a weapon, functionality is as important, if not more important, than aesthetics. The Ayame definitely does not disappoint in the functionality category. The tip may not be quite as durable as the Tenchi or other traditional style tips, but it is certainly sturdy enough for my light duty cutting.

The sword loses a few points on fit & finish for pit marks and scuff marks on the blade and connecting components. I personally prefer the wavy traditional style hamon to this straight one even though they are just brushed or etched on. It would also be nice to see this sword come with a bo-hi option to make the handling just that much better (also to make the cool sound when you swing it, heh).

I would recommend this sword for purchase but maybe not for a first sword. You will not be disappointed with the Ayame.

PROS

• Extremely durable cutting edge (same as Tenchi Katana)

• Scalpel tip allows very fast tip cuts and deep thrusts into soft targets

• Unique and attractive tsuka ito and black rayskin combination

• Tip is more fragile than normal kissaki

• Saya quite rough and other minor cosmetic defects

WHERE TO BUY

The Shobu Zukuri blades normally sell at US$249.99 at Cheness Cutlery.

However, as usual, we are able to bring them to you at a better price – just US$229.99 with FREE SHIPPING in the USA.

Bear in mind that there are two versions of the Shobus – the Ayame (reviewed here) and the Kurome (with a wider even more scalpel like tip).

Both of these are available with our regular selection of monosteel 9260 Cheness blades right here at the SBG Sword Store