Comparative Review of Seven Entry to Mid-Level Production Katana

By: Michael Mahaffey

As a novice sword collector with a penchant for the ever-popular katana, I am always on the lookout for affordable functional pieces that also look good enough to be displayed on my mantle.

Luckily for me, the sword market at the moment seems to be flooded with lots of katana from different makers that seem to fit the bill.

But are they all what they claim to be? Sure, they seem affordable (between $80-$300USD), but can they safely withstand the rigors of cutting without damage and look decent on display?

I was fortunate enough to recently spend a Saturday afternoon test-cutting with six different production katana (The title of my review says “Seven”, but my Cheness Tenchi unfortunately had not arrived yet via UPS. So although I have done some cutting with it and review it below, I cannot truthfully say that I cut with it that weekend.).

The head instructor at my karate club held a BBQ and cutting party at his home to celebrate the end of a semester (we are a university club) and the beginning of warm weather (we live in Michigan, USA, after all! :-)). With a handful of us who enjoy collecting sharp and pointy things, our instructor felt that it would be fun to spend our afternoon cutting bundled grass, inexpensive beach mats and tatami omote (half-mats from www.tameshigiri.com).

My usual caveat: Although I have been training and teaching martial arts for 20 years (including weapons training in kobudo and kali), I am not a practitioner of the Japanese Sword Arts (JSA).

At least one member of our group that Saturday has been formally training in Western Martial Arts (WMA – in particular German long sword technique), but I have never formally trained with a sword (other than learning a few basics about safety, and a basic cut or two, from our head instructor).

In addition, my knowledge of Japanese sword terminology is limited, so I will use it when I can, but will revert to common English names when I cannot. Therefore, I do not intend to review any of these swords from the perspective of the JSA, but merely from the perspective of a hobbyist/enthusiast. Please take this review for no more than that.

With that said, on to the reviews!

Swords Reviewed

The seven swords in this review, from least to most expensive, are:

1. Masahiro Dragon Katana: Approx $60USD on Ebay
2. Masahiro Practical Katana: Approx $80USD on Ebay
3. Masahiro Bamboo Katana*: Approx $80 USD on Ebay
4. Paul Chen Practical Katana*: $133USD
5. Paul Chen Practical Plus Katana: $208USD
6. Cheness Tenchi Katana (with bo-hi)*: $250USD
7. Paul Chen Wind and Thunder Katana: $499USD (OK, this is not exactly an entry-level blade. But I include it here for interesting comparison to the lower end/less expensive swords).

(*These swords are those that I actually own. The rest were owned by others at the party – I will provide as much detail as I can about these given the limited time I spent using them.)

With a comparative review of this many swords at once, the easiest thing to do that I can think of is to list each sword, with my impressions of its characteristics, in the order they are listed above. I also give each sword a score of 1-5 (with 5 being the best) in each category. This way, one can easily compare one to another without having to scroll/click between reviews.

Fit and Finish - Fittings Masahiro Dragon Katana - 3: Although this is the least expensive sword in this review, I actually like the fittings quite a bit. The cotton ito (handle-wrap) is a nice royal blue color, and was serviceably tight with relatively even diamonds. The same (rayskin) on the handle came in panels, but the ito was wrapped well enough that none of the wooden tsuka (handle) showed through. The tsuba (guard) is a nicely cast brass colored dragon wrapping itself around the blade. The habaki (blade collar) is plain brass. I did not look closely enough at the menuki (tsuka ornaments), but I believe they are dragons as well. Aesthetically, the fittings on this sword are quite nice. The blue ito is a nice change from the traditional black, and the saya (scabbard) was lacquered blue to match. Unfortunately the fittings and aesthetics were about the only thing I really liked about this sword... Masahiro Practical Katana - 2: This sword, although better in many ways than the Dragon model, has less attractive fittings. The ito is black leather, and is thin and looked worn in spots despite the sword being relatively new. The same again was in panels, but this time was not covered sufficiently by the ito, so some of the tsuka core showed through near the corners of the diamonds created by the wrap. The tsuba is thick and is decorated with a relief of a sword-wielding samurai. The habaki is again plain brass. Again, I did not get a chance to closely examine the menuki. In general, I did not find the leather wrap attractive – the leather used was of low quality, and the wrap was not done as well as that of the other Masahiro models, hence my lower score. Masahiro Bamboo Katana* - 4: Although an inexpensive production blade with flaws of its own, the finish of the fittings on my Masahiro Bamboo far outclasses any other sword under $300 that I have handled. The ito is the tightest I have ever seen on a sword – the black cotton wrap is practically immovable. The same appears to be a full wrap, unlike the panels on the other two Masahiro in this review. The tsuba, fuchi (band of metal on the tsuka underneath the tsuba) and kashira (pommel cap) are cast bronze, and are decorated with a bamboo theme. Once again, this sword has a plain brass habaki. The menuki are bronze dragons. Although these fittings are somewhat plain in comparison to those on the Dragon model, I have elevated the score in this category due to the higher level of craftsmanship shown in my Bamboo model – in particular the incredibly tight ito forming near perfect diamonds down the length of the tsuka. I have no doubt that this is a wrap that will last through a lot of use. Paul Chen Practical Katana* - 1: I have read that previous generations of the Practical Katana (PK) had terrible fittings, including a plastic habaki. Even though these have improved, I still have to give the fittings on my generation 5 PK a lower score than the other swords in this review. The ito is imitation suede, and by itself looks attractive enough. The wrap is tight, but the diamonds are very uneven, revealing some of the wooden tsuka core. The same is fake, consisting of plastic panels on either side of the tsuka. Being that the PK was my first real sword, this didn’t seem like that big of a deal until I purchased some swords with real same. Now the plastic seems to be an eyesore. The tsuba, fuchi, and kashira are antiqued iron, which I actually think is quite attractive. The habaki is unadorned brass. The menuki are again plastic – a trio of cherry blossoms – painted to look like copper. The final straw is that all of the fittings are not held onto the nakago (tang) of the sword by the traditional bamboo peg (mekugi), but are glued on permanently, making removal of the tsuka and customization of the fittings all but impossible. I understand that cheap fittings were used to keep the price of the sword down, but it is frustrating to not be able to change the fittings if I want to. Hence, the mighty PK gets a 1 in this category. Paul Chen Practical Plus Katana - 2: The Practical Plus Katana (PPK) does a bit better than its cousin in this category. The PPK has synthetic leather ito, which looks a bit gaudy in my opinion, but is tight enough and serviceable. The wrap on the model at our cutting party was fairly even, but had shifted enough after a few years of use to expose the wooden tsuka at the edges of the same panels. The same on the PPK is real. The tsuba is a black iron sunburst pattern. I like the PK tsuba better, to be honest. The menuki are metal (probably brass), and are dragons. The habaki is plain. The biggest upgrade, in my opinion, from PK to PPK is that the tsuka of the PK is held onto the nakago by two mekugi, and is removable for full inspection and customization. I found myself, a few months after the purchase of my PK, wishing I had purchased a PPK for this very reason. Cheness Tenchi Katana* - 2: Paul Chen, the owner and proprietor of Cheness Cutlery (not the same Paul Chen of Hanwei), has made it known that his focus is on providing the best entry-level blades that money can buy. And in many ways the Tenchi is a superior sword to all other sub $300USD swords in this review, but there remain issues with the fittings that drag it down in this category. Overall, the Tenchi fittings are attractive enough. The ito is black cotton, and is tight, but not as tight as the wraps of the other katana in this review. The same is real, but in panels and not a full wrap. The Tenchi tsuba is very nice – a heavy, antiqued brass, Musashi double ring. The fuchi and kashira are brass, and are engraved with a very “busy” pattern. The menuki are brass, and to be honest, I cannot quite make out what they represent. The habaki on this sword does not quite fit right. It is not loose – in fact, it is immovable, despite my attempts at fixing it when I disassembled my sword. It just sits at an angle, creating a small gap between it and the seppa (copper spacer between habaki and tsuba) on the ha (edge) side of the blade. All the fittings are rock solid despite this gap, making this issue an aesthetic one rather than functional. Regardless, this review would not be complete if this issue were not mentioned. Paul Chen Wind and Thunder Katana - 4: It only makes sense that the Wind and Thunder (W&T), costing twice as much as the next most expensive sword in this review, would receive such a high score in the fittings department. The W&T has black silk ito, wrapped tight and even over a full same-wrapped tsuka. The tsuba is black iron, and is engraved with a picture of Raiden, the god of thunder. I am unsure what the menuki are on this sword as well. Needless to say, everything is put together nice and tight, and is simple, yet elegant.

Fit and Finish - Blade Masahiro Dragon Katana - 1: Unfortunately, the handsome fittings of the Dragon katana are overshadowed by the unattractiveness of its blade. The blade I handled did not have a very attractive polish – the finish of the steel was fairly dull, and the hamon (temper line) was rough looking and obviously wire brushed. There was not even a cosmetic yokote (line between the body of the blade and the tip) – the body of the blade transitioned smoothly into the kissaki (tip), which for a katana is not only incorrect, but in my opinion quite ugly. To be honest, I have had $30 stainless steel wallhangers that had a more attractive blade than this one. Thumbs down to this blade. Masahiro Practical Katana - 2: Although not a terribly attractive blade, the Masahiro Practical katana does at least score higher than the dragon. The polish has more of a mirror finish, and there is at least a cosmetic yokote. The hamon, as with all the Masahiro swords, is fake, but at least this one looks acid-etched as opposed to an unattractive wire brush. This is definitely not an art-sword, but I have seen worse. Masahiro Bamboo Katana* - 2: The Bamboo katana blade is more attractive than the other two Masahiro in this review, but is still not up to par with any of the lower end Hanwei swords. The Bamboo has a decent enough polish, with more of a mirror finish than even the PK. It has a cosmetic yokote and a cosmetic acid-etched hamon, but what brings its score down is that it came out of the box with some rust on the mune (spine) of the blade. I was able to clean it up with some Metal Glo and elbow grease, but in my opinion, rust on a new sword is irritating enough to knock the score down in this category by at least one point. (Granted, I do not own many of the blades in this review, so I do not know what flaws they may have originally had out of the box. But since I own this one, its condition upon arrival at my door must be taken into account). Paul Chen Practical Katana* - 3: While it will not win any beauty contests, the blade of the generation 5 PK is still a step above that of the Masahiro blades. The polish is nice, although not as mirror like as that of the Bamboo. It, too has a cosmetic yokote, but its suguha (straight) hamon is real (etched to make it more prominent, but real nonetheless) and quite attractive. And to make it even better, this katana blade was flawless out of the box :-). Paul Chen Practical Plus Katana - 3: If I could score by halves, I would give the PPK a 3.5 in this category just to differentiate it from the PK. The polish on the blade is just a tad nicer, and the real (but still etched for emphasis) hamon is a pleasant wave vs. the straight hamon of the PK. Again, not an art sword, but nice. Cheness Tenchi Katana* - 3: The Tenchi blade is a solid 3 – not bad, but a step down aesthetically from the PK blade. Being thoroughly hardened, it has no true hamon, but a cosmetic acid-etched suguha hamon in its place. The polish is serviceable – billed as a “tameshigiri polish” on the Cheness website – but is definitely not a mirror finish. The yokote is again cosmetic. Not an ugly blade, but no beauty contest winner either. Paul Chen Wind and Thunder Katana - 4: Not surprisingly (given the price difference), the blade of the W&T is the most attractive of all the swords in this review. The polish is serviceable, but the blade has a nice, bright suguha hamon and a somewhat pronounced yokote (although I believe this is cosmetic as well). Although I do not own this sword, I did get a chance to handle it new out of the box, and the bright hamon, long O-kissaki, and general beefiness of this blade make it, in my opinion, quite impressive to behold.

Handling Masahiro Dragon Katana - 3: With an 11 inch tsuka and a fairly light blade with bo-hi, the Masahiro Dragon handles fairly well. Unfortunately, the handling of the Dragon is offset by its poor cutting ability, which I will elaborate on later in this review. Masahiro Practical Katana - 3: The Masahiro Practical handles just about as well as the Dragon. Its blade is a bit thicker, making for a point of balance that is more forward than that of the other Masahiro in this review. However, it is still light enough, given the bo-hi, to change directions fairly easily when performing multiple cuts. Masahiro Bamboo Katana* - 5: While definitely an inexpensive katana from a company with sometimes-poor quality control, the Masahiro Bamboo katana still handles like a dream. At 12 inches, the tsuka is longer than all others in this review except the PPK. The combination of the lengthy handle and a light, fast blade with bo-hi makes a very maneuverable sword. This blade feels like it is ready to move in your hands. Accelerating through cuts and changing direction are effortless, making the Bamboo the best handling of this bunch. Paul Chen Practical Katana* - 3: The trusty PK gets a solid 3 when it comes to handling. The blade feels slightly heavier than the Masahiro blades (lack of bo-hi could be the difference), and I would like another inch on the 11 inch tsuka. The PK, however, is not difficult to handle, and can accelerate and change directions between cuts fairly easily. Paul Chen Practical Plus Katana - 4: A fairly light blade and a long tsuka make the PPK a bit more maneuverable than the PK and most of the Masahiro. However, the almost 13 inch tsuka keeps the PPK from rivaling the Bamboo in this category – it seems almost too long for me, and feels like it gets in the way when performing multiple cuts. Cheness Tenchi Katana* - 3: The Tenchi I own has bo-hi, and is advertised as (obviously) lighter than the version without. However, I still find the Tenchi a bit more unwieldy than the PPK or the Bamboo. The sword still feels a bit tip heavy – not so much that stopping your blade in mid cut is a problem, but more so than I would have expected in the bo-hi version. Another inch on the 11 inch tsuka might have changed the balance a bit, but all in all the Tenchi does not handle poorly. Paul Chen Wind and Thunder Katana - 2: Handling is the category where the W&T finally falls behind all the others. This sword is heavy. Weighing in at 3 lbs. 5 oz., the W&T feels more like an axe than a katana. The sword is difficult to accelerate, and even more difficult to stop in mid cut or change directions. (Or maybe I am just weak :-)). However, the beefy blade feels like it could cut through anything once you got it moving. Still, this is not the sword for me, and since this is my review I have to give it a low score in the handling department.

Structural Integrity/Cutting Ability Masahiro Dragon Katana - 2: Although billed as “high carbon steel”, I wouldn’t recommend the Masahiro Dragon for much cutting. The nakago (tang) seems solid enough, and it is secured to the tsuka with two mekugi, but the edge on the blade of the Dragon I handled was abysmal. The Ebay seller who sold this sword stated it was “razor sharp”, but it was really quite dull, and took considerable effort to get through even the cheap beach mats we cut that day. Masahiro Practical Katana - 3: With a heavier blade and a sharper edge than the Dragon, the Masahiro Practical Katana can handle heavier targets. It cut the beach mats and the tatami well enough, and earns a solid three in this category. Masahiro Bamboo Katana* - 3: The blade on this particular Bamboo katana is quite light and thin. I had no problem cutting the tatami with the Bamboo, but I do not think I would cut anything heavier – I am not sure the thin blade could handle it. Other than that, the fittings are all tight, and the nakago is solid. The Bamboo is an all-around good beater katana. Paul Chen Practical Katana* - 4: A thicker blade and no bo-hi make the PK sturdier than most of the Masahiro katana. It cut the half-mat tatami easily, and I would trust it with heavier targets given the opportunity (full mats, small bamboo, etc). Although it is not traditionally constructed, I have no doubts about the structural integrity of the fittings, seeing as how they are glued tightly to the blade. Paul Chen Practical Plus Katana - 3: Although the PPK is in many ways a step up from the PK, I think I would use the PK on heavier targets than I would the PPK. The PPK in this review has a thinner blade than the PK, with more taper toward the kissaki. The fittings are all tight enough, and I had no worries about the integrity of the tsuka, but I would not trust the PPK blade with anything other than medium-soft targets. Cheness Tenchi Katana* - 5: With a spring tempered 9260 steel blade, the Tenchi should be able to handle anything I want to throw at it. Although I have not cut anything with it besides a couple of milk jugs (remember this sword had not been delivered in time for the cutting party), I would have no doubt of its ability to cut tatami, bamboo, wooden dowels, etc, without damage to the blade. Why do I feel this way? Martin “Oz” Austwick of RS Knives put the Tenchi’s cousin, the Shura, through some brutal destructive testing just to see how much these spring steel katana can take before failing. Needless to say, it was a heck of a lot. The test in all its glory can be seen here: http://rsknives.co.uk/review.html. Given this, I felt the Tenchi deserved nothing less than a 5 in this category. Paul Chen Wind and Thunder Katana - 5: With a thick, heavy blade and super tight fittings, the W&T also gets a 5 in the cutting category. Once you get this blade moving, just get out of its way, because it is going to cut. The half-rolls of tatami were effortless to cut with the W&T, and the beach mats were laughable. I found myself wishing we had rounded up some nice, thick bamboo, as I would have loved to see how the W&T would have performed against a heavy target. Softer targets (pool noodles) can be a bit of a problem with this sword, as it is hard to move quickly. But given enough room to accelerate, the W&T is nigh unstoppable.

Value for Money (Would I recommend this sword?) Masahiro Dragon Katana - 1: I was thoroughly disappointed with almost everything about the Masahiro Dragon except for the fittings and the handsome blue ito. The aesthetics of the blade and its cutting ability are deal breakers in my opinion. The only redeeming quality I found with the Dragon is how inexpensive it is on Ebay. I would not recommend this sword at all to any halfway serious collector. Masahiro Practical Katana - 3: The Masahiro Practical Katana, although not the best sword I have seen, is still leaps and bounds above the Dragon. The less attractive fittings are compensated for by a beefier, better polished, and much more functional blade. I would not seek this katana out myself as a purchase, but for the prices you can purchase this sword for on Ebay, I would not dissuade anyone from adding one of these to their collection. Masahiro Bamboo Katana* - 4: In many ways the Bamboo Katana is the best value for the money in this review. The fittings are fairly attractive and tight, and the sword cuts quite well. The only thing keeping me from giving it a 5 and wholeheartedly recommending this sword to anyone is spotty quality control – you never know what issues you may have with a Masahiro sword. As I stated earlier, I had to clean rust off of my blade when it arrived, and I have heard of worse problems with Masahiro Bamboo katana. Given that Masahiro seems to have no customer support, I imagine it would be difficult to rectify any problems one might encounter. If there were someone to call to get replacement parts, refunds, etc., I would have no problem telling all of my sword collecting friends to go out and buy a Bamboo. Paul Chen Practical Katana* - 3: The PK is a decent sword for its price, and if you shop around online you it can be found for just over $100USD. The blade is nice looking and cuts well, but the fittings leave much to be desired, and cannot be upgraded easily. It is worth noting, however, that Hanwei has recently released a new version of its PK and PPK, and the new PK has a removable tsuka and an even thicker blade. This may bear looking into for those who want a PK yet do not want to be stuck with a glued-on tsuka. Paul Chen Practical Plus Katana - 3: Like the PK, the PPK is overall a good sword. It is a decent cutter, and the tsuka is removable should you want to customize the fittings. It can be found online hovering around the $200USD mark, and is really quite a good buy. The only drawback I see is the thin blade (which, like the PK, has supposedly been rectified with the newest version out this year). Cheness Tenchi Katana* - 4: I really wanted to give the Tenchi a 5 in this category and recommend this sword to everyone without reservation – but I cannot. As far as durability, the Tenchi is tops. Aesthetics leave something to be desired, but personally I would rather have a near-unstoppable cutter than an art sword for my wall. What kept the Tenchi from getting a 5 were the fittings and the problems I had with both Tenchi I owned. Luckily, Paul Chen of Cheness Inc. is the most honest dealer I have spoken to, and his customer service is second to none. This commitment to customer satisfaction keep the Cheness Tenchi a top contender, even when the fittings fall a bit short of some other entry level blades. Paul Chen Wind and Thunder Katana - 4: At this point in the review it is almost not fair to include the W&T. It is a head above so many of the other swords here – but it should be, given the $499USD price tag. It looks nice and cuts great, and if you want to spend $500 on a sword (and are strong enough to wield this) then I would wholeheartedly recommend it. If you could find the W&T for $300USD or under, then I would give it a 5. Since I could not find it that cheap, it stays at a 4.

There it is – seven swords in one review. Although some may want me to pick a favorite, I will refrain from that practice. It should be obvious from the above which swords I like and which I did not. And those that I like, I often did so for different reasons. All I can hope for is that this has been helpful for anyone who is interested in purchasing any of these swords.

Thanks for reading, and happy sword shopping!

Michael Mahaffey

WHERE TO BUY: The best place to pick up the Masahiro swords in this review for the lowest prices is at Trueswords.com while the Hanwei swords are best purchased at Kult of Athena - and of course you can pick up the legendary Tenchi Katana for the lowest price right here at the SBG Sword Store