Shinto Elite Katana Review

When it comes to quality in a production Katana, it is very hard to improve upon Hanwei’s Shinto Elite Katana.

An updated and much improved version of the original ‘Shinto’ design, the Elite is a razor sharp, high quality tool with both a simple yet elegant aesthetic appeal and awesome cutting ability. But what do you REALLY get for double the cost of your average Katana we review on SBG? Is the extra money really worth the higher price tag?

SBG reviewer Kenny certainly seems to think so...

Hanwei Shinto Elite Katana

Oh gosh, where to begin. I'm so excited, I was listening to music and I heard a knock on the door, I had no idea who it was, I wasn't expecting this sword until monday; but I DID order a replacement tsuka from Paul chen (cheness) so I figured that's what was in the mail. But to my sweet surprise was a huge box! AWESOME! It came three days early, well technically one minus weekend.

So I opened the box, very well packaged as pictured.

It came with a much different sword bag than what I normally get, much nicer feeling, I like it. And to my somewhat surprise, a sword cleaning kit, DOH!

The kit is pretty nice, the first one I've owned, it's constructed well, comes with some nice looking what nots, and a wooden shim in case your sword is too loose in the saya.

So I went ahead and RIPPED it out as quick as I could, took it out of the bag and was instantly satisfied with what lay before me.

I was really astonished with how fat this entire katana is, but I was amazed because it was fat, but soo very light feeling! As a matter of fact, the saya itself feels heavier than the actual sword!

Upon inspection there was no damage or anything to the outside, there's two tags on the Tsuba, one shown below depicting various manufacture information and one regarding safety.

I then moved onto the handle, feeling it up like a hot date!..well yeah. The ito is tight as a bow! The menuki were, decent, I could see obvious clumping in the crevices from the paint but no biggie. The Menuki themselves are what I believe to be a sort of, shinto "chalice"? Perhaps that's the wrong word to use. The Kashirae are of a Japanese dragon motif, accented with gold paint on the eyes of the dragons.

The Ito is cotton, very nice finely woven cotton, very tight. All of the Koshirae are tightly placed and there's absolutely no "play" in any of the fittings.

Moving up to the Seppa and Habaki, both are brass. Nothing too fancy, there were some bits of lint of something on the seppa but I just scratched them off no problem. The Habaki has a scratched design on it shown below, overall perfectly fine, perfectly tight.

And finally, the blade. Goodness, I was very pleased and very surprised at how the blade is designed, I wasn't expecting it but it's a very wide and very thin blade. And yet despite it's wide shape, the balance and control you have with this blade is incredible to say the least.

And from what I've been told and from what an amazing feature I can see, this blade has a real Kissaki/Yokote, which I absolutely adore! It's just so much better than the standard cross filed Kissaki we usually see, so beautiful looking!

Handling, while Katanas like the Cheness Ichi Maru with Bohi feels light, and fast, this katana feels elegant and well beautiful is how I would describe it's handling. The three other katanas I have including the VA1601, Roninkatanas Wheel K. and the cheness 30" nagasa, this Shinto just blows them out of the water in terms of control.

The overall fit and finish of this blade is fantastic, I love it and I would buy one again! This wonderful piece has raised my expectations, the blade is straight, the Yokote is real, high quality materials for everything! I just LOVE this katana!

Pros

• Superior Handling and Control

• High quality, well assembled iron components

• Beautifully polished blade and real kissaski and yokote (tip)

• Superior Quality T10 Tungsten Alloy High Speed Tool Steel

• Currently massively discounted (MSRP $869 but available for $379.99)

Cons

• Discontinued in September 2009.

WHERE TO BUY

While we usually specialize in swords at or below the $300 price point, we do offer a small selection of more ‘elite’ swords to the discerning sword collector. And as usual, we price them as low as humanly possible.

Originally the Shinto Elite was sold by us for $589.99, but for a limited time (until stocks last) this discontinued sword is being liquidated in our store here for a ridiculous $379.99!