Kawashima swords??


Home What's New? Search Contact About SBG Sword Store

Kawashima swords??

by Xian
(Canada)

QUESTION: Swords of might has a new line of swords from kawashima swords, can u tell me anything about the brand? Right now my favorite brands are musashi swords and cheness cutlery. I have 2 musashi swords and am planning to buy a third from the 150's series, as for cheness... i cant afford one yet lol, im planning to buy from ur site within the year hoping that i can catch one when its in stock. Just asking if kawashima is a good brand or if you have reviews in your site about them.

P.S. the musashi's i own are all thanks to you and your site!!

ANSWER: Hi Xian,

There is a lot of hype around Kawashima Swords, including some claim that they are made in Japan, are the best value for money out there, yada, yada, yada...

However, I believe that Jason at SoM has pointed out that they are made by one of the forges that produces Masahiro - and if you look at the fittings, etc - they are pretty much generic low end Katana...

However, there are better choices out there - there will soon be a review on the main site done by a SBG member that shows that they have a lot of plastic parts in their construction that, in his review, broke during light cutting tests (tatami and waterbottles) and the fake wire brushed hamon looks pretty horrific...

At first I was as keen as everyone else to see what, if anything, the fuss was about.. But I'm sorry to say, there isn't much there at all...

- Paul

Comments for
Kawashima swords??

Click here to add your own comments

Jan 10, 2011

kawashima hayari katana
by: roger williams

i just bought a hayari katana. The menuki appear to be plastic, all the other hardware is copper or brass. Its thick heavy and a good cutter. If you're looking for a good practice sword with the heft of an authentic nihonto and the ability to cut medium to hard targets this is a good buy.I have a masahiro and i consider it a beater.

May 21, 2010

KAWASHIMA SWORDS
by: Y.B

WHERE CAN I FIND SOME ? I HAD A SITE BUT THEY REMOVED ALL OF THERE KAWASHIMA STOCK AND THEY SAY THEY WONT HAVE ANYMORE? just when i wanted too buy them!!!!

Mar 30, 2009

kawashima
by: Anonymous

experiance first hand the kawashimas kats are brilliant, give them a chance there new.

they cutt great , look great , so far the one i have has had not cosmetic problem at all . Give it a year and this brand will be doing great.

everyone was bitchin them when they first came out.

Feb 16, 2009

Rave reviews
by: Anonymous

I have actually heard more good reviews then bad on these katanas. Apparently they come shaving sharp and are very solid from what I get at the SOM forum and other various places. I have the hayari coming from Swords of the East soon......i'll give you all my opinion once it gets here.

Jul 31, 2008

Appeal to common sense
by: Caleb

This is my humble opinion: if you are a company that makes swords, there are a few possibilities:

a) Your stuff is good quality and your claims about it is true
b) Your stuff is good quality and your claims about it is false (claiming it better than it is)
c) Your stuff is crap and your claims are true
d) Your stuff is crap and your claims are false

Which is why--for crying out loud!--$120 USD for a "made in Japan" sounds automatically to me to be a LIE. When the heck is anything made in Japan that cheap? Give me an example! No, from my experience, even the miniture plastic molded "samurai sword model" are not cheap; in general, a lot of GENUINE Japanese SOUVENIR is not cheap, let alone functional swords.

When your stuff is crap, you DON'T want to tell the truth. Why would anyone want to buy crap? That is why companies would lie. "Kawashima"--if that is its real name--did just that, and did it WAY over the top IMHO.

Please, go with Hanwai, Chenness, or even Masahiro. Hanwai has been long enough to have its lies revealed so they more-or-less tell the truth now; Chenness is rigorously tested here at SBG (a lot of Chenness posts are in Sword Forum Internation too), and Masahiro is in the same price range as Kawashima only it, like the other two, have quite a bit of information accessible to you.

Click here to add your own comments