Thaitsuki Nihonto


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Thaitsuki Nihonto

by Philip Allwood
(Hamm, Germany)

QUESTION: I just heard about Thaitsuki Nihonto and asked myself, if it's really possible to get a traditional japanese katana for a price less then 1000$. I saw swords of thaitsuki in a German sword shop and they looked well made. I read reviews that said, these swords peform like real katanas when it comes to cut traditional targets. They shall even handle a tatami with 17 inch diameter with ease.
I just wanted to ask, if you have any experience with these swords and if there's a possibility to get a review of them.

Kindest regards,

Philip

ANSWER: Hi Philip,

I am not terribly impressed by these swords... For the money, it is possible to do a lot better - but FYI, I think the information that mirrors my own info on these swords can be found here on Sword Forum International...

Not exactly glowing recommendations either... :-(

Kindest Regards,

- Paul

Comments for
Thaitsuki Nihonto

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Jan 30, 2012

S04 NEW
by: Scott

In spite of Anon appointing himself the authority on all things Thaitsuki on this site and his suspect negative babbling about the Tonbo which he somehow managed to get before they were even in production, I put a request for a Thaitsuki katana on my Christmas wish list. The photo's looked impressive and I have heard good things about these swords from other enthusiasts. My wife came through and bought me the top of the line Tonbo S04. Because I've always enjoyed the dragonfly theme in Japanese folklore this is the one I was hoping for. Over the years I have collected half a dozen swords, admittedly much lower end than the S04, but I have have friends that own some expensive Hanwei's - a Kami, Tori & Tiger katanas so I have seen these swords close up and know what a high quality katana should look like. After opening the box and wiping the grease off the blade I began to carefully look it over. All I can say is that I was blown away by the level of detail and quality of workmanship. The blade was sharp, the hamon distinct and hada and blade finish beautiful. The silver dragonfly's were incredibly detailed and really provided a nice contrast against the matte finish of the saya. I just cannot say enough about the phenomenal detailing of this sword. It make you want to keep looking at it over and over to take it all in. To say that I am happy with my katana is an understatement and I eagerly hope for the availability of a matching Tonbo wakizashi!

Jan 24, 2012

sharpness NEW
by: James

Accidently curving or twisting the blade by hand sharpening it? LOL I don't know what kind of swords you have but that is not a worry with a quality sword.

Jan 18, 2012

Sharpness NEW
by: Anon

Why don't they just do it right away ? Right out of the box razor sharp swords ? Not having to work 60 hours a week I would probably enjoy trying to sharpen a out of the box dull thaitsuki blade, but I'm way too busy for that. I recently bought a VG-1 Kukri from coldsteel that is razor sharp right off the box, same with the leatherman multitool that I bought with a razor blade right off the box same again with that new cheap priced katana from coldsteel. I just don't understand why you're paying up to 3500$ for a dull blade. Of course with a real good swing even a dull blade will do some damages. But as a customer it's not my job to get my sword sharpened because they didn't knew how to do it.

As a matter of fact there's a pro in Japan that is or was sharpening real nihonto blades, 18 hours a day on a sword, he could get it done in two - three weeks working 6 days in a row. And he's been doing that for the last 20 years. Now if you don't have any experience, as trial and error going on, I certainly wouldn't recommend you guys try that on a 3500$ katana, but mostly on a cheap one. After you're done with your first blade that will give you an idea on what it takes to sharpen a blade to perfection without losing too much much metal, not curving or twisting the blade or doind any bad cosmetic scratchs on it. You'll end up with the same conclusion as I did... Not worth my time and effort.

Jan 18, 2012

new sword sharpness NEW
by: Anonymous

You are right about the sharpness issue.
Some very cheap swords are the sharpest I have seen while many expensive katanas tend to be less so. I think they do not truly hand sharpen the less expensive swords but sharpen mostly by machine, then just give the blade a few dress up strokes with a sharpening stone and call it "hand sharpened".
Enthusiasts should learn to sharpen their blade to the desired level themselves. It's very rewarding and though time consuming it is not difficult.
I have a Thaitsuki S03 that I have had for just over a year and could not be happier with. Not razor sharp out of the box, but plenty sharp enough for target cutting. Excellent quality of workmanship/fittings and blade finish.

Jan 09, 2012

sharp NEW
by: Anonymous

If you are looking to purchase a razor sharp katana then you are not in reality looking for a battlefield ready katana. Such a katana is forged for hard targets such as armour that will be encountered on a battle field, and a katana that is razor sharp as some wish for simply would not survive the battle field. An edge that is razor sharp will simply fold/roll on impact.

Dec 19, 2011

terrible swords NEW
by: wilson ko

I recently ordered thaitsuki sword s02 and wk02. The sword is not sharp. I resend back to them and the send me a new one. The result also same, NOT SHARP. Have some cosmetic sratches on it. Overall for the price I bought this IT SUCKS. I don't recommend this sword to collector and people who want have cutting test. I fell that I have been cheated by the thaitsuki.

Dec 19, 2011

Stock NEW
by: Tony

While Thaitsuki is produced only after orders are recieved and paid for we do endevour to carry some stock on hand as we realize having to wait months for a product to arrive is not something anyone looks forward to. Overall dealing with Thaitsuki has been a positive experience.

Tony
www.canadiansamurai.com

Oct 27, 2011

Bad kissaki
by: Anonymous

The Thaitsuki Katana sword I've seen had a very bad Kisski. For that money you can get a top hanwei crane.

Oct 13, 2011

Tonbo (S04) Katana
by: Anon

Well, it's a box from Thaitsuki, with their logo (lotus flower) on it, and on the box it's stamped made in Thailand. I haven't got this one from the united states market. I do have the certificate of authenticity issued for the "US" or north american market and the sword number as well. I'm not from the US.

Inspected and approved by the forge ... so i presume they've been checking the sword. Unless they're signing certificates on the go without reviewing the katana in the first place, so if the forge couldn't figure the imperfections of the blade right off from signing the certificate, i guess it's not even worth contacting to let them know about the issue, and to consider that is the best they could do with their knowledge since it was stamped approved in the first place.

As for returning the sword to the dealer that sold it to me, looks like it wasn't an option for him since he didn't offer it. He just told me that he was sorry about my thoughts about the sword, and that he will make it follow to the forge. Since then no news at all.

The thing is that my "thoughts" are based on facts. I bought it, I got it in my hands, I inspected it and I fully own it. Still, I repolished it 3 times to clean it up and improve the quality of the look of the blade and that's it. I guess the "return" or "refund" thing is out of the way for now, and that wouldn't fix the issue, i was expecting more concern from the forge over it's own product right from the start, and have a trouble free razor edge cutting blade right off the box.

So the facts are in my previous comments, I don't have anything more to say about it that I previously stated in my review of the blade. These comments weren't meant to bash Thaitsuki at all.

The one thing to know about, is when you're creating some sort of expectations to the customers by stating that these katanas are excellent stuff and are the top one of your products line, and it arrives in an unperfected manners, what should you expect? Submission ? Not saying anything ? Well this tribune (SBG that is) was the one I decided to use to make my review based on facts.

I can see on this board that Thaitsuki asked to dissmiss the "i heard this and that from this guy", well here you have a real and honnest statement from a guy that really owns the stuff.

So to wrap up the thing, if it was signed, and stamped approved by certification from the forge in the condition it was shipped in the same way that I got it, I could just guess that's the best way they could forge it.

I do think that's where you can see that the price doesn't really reflect the reality or the quality of the products you're buying, and that being in many aspects of life. I wasn't expecting a "real Nihonto" blade that takes a full year to forge and sharpen. Still i was expecting better stuff than what I have got from Thaitsuki.

Oct 13, 2011

Thaitsuki
by: Michael Kuether

As I said, the S04 has not shiped yet, that is why I was wondering where this sword came from, the USA or another country?

Why dont you return the sword if the quality is not what you had expected. If we were the ones that shipped it, the forge need to know of any imperfections.

Thanks

Oct 13, 2011

Tonbo (S04) Katana
by: Anon

From a reseller as i mentioned. I'm not here to drag him in the dirt. Still i can tell you that Thaitsuki shouldn't have that blade out of the forge. They will probably come out with a potable one once they hit the S25 limited ivory edition katana series. Did i tell about the curve in the blade as well ? That's a shame.

I will have to spend 2-3 months with an 8000 grain sharpening stone to make it razor sharp and mirror finish like it was supposed to be in the first place. I can't say that I'm happy with what I got on hand so far for the price I paid.

Oct 13, 2011

Thaitsuki S04
by: Anonymous

I am curious where you got your S04 from, we are the USA Distributor and these swords have yet to be released to us yet, not due in until November

Oct 13, 2011

Tonbo (S04) Katana
by: Anon

Established since 400 years ? well they probably lost some of the work of making katana along the way. It took 4 months to get mine.

The Hamon isn't that bad, but for the price you can certainly expect better. The Hada isn't that bad as well but for the price once again you could be well disapointed.

The Yokote is a total mess with scratchs on, and it's a straight cut from the blade, thus meaning that there's almost no visible hada from that point to the very end of the kissaki.

The HA (edge of the blade) needs resharpening straight out of the box, there's places on the edge that don't even cut through a sheet of paper and the Hada is really faded. At that point of my personal review i won't waste any of my time writing about the saya.

The blade also needed repolishing right of the saya, because it was real dirty. The blade is also off balance from about 8 inchs from the tsuba towards the blade which could be very dangerous if you haven't carefully looked for the balance point of the sword. To me it's not only a piece of metal to hang on the wall, it's a tool for practicing a serious martial art.

I wouldn't call it a rip off, but it would be foolish to say it's worth the money I invested in that blade. That's, my friends and I opinion that this blade isn't worth the money asked for.

Overpriced ? yes. They should sell these for a cheaper price for sure. No feed back from the reseller after my comments to him. He didn't even argue my points. Except for the overpriced part of my lines thoughts.

Oct 08, 2011

Thiatsuki
by: Bale

I recently spent usd 3000 for a thiatsuki because it is better to buy a katana from an established company having making classics for 400 years

Oct 08, 2011

Thiatsuki
by: Bale

I recently spent usd 3000 for a thiatsuki because it is better to buy a katana from an established company having making classics for 400 years

Aug 15, 2011

Factory direct
by: Chris

While it's nice that one person got thier sword factory direct, I have been waiting 4 months going on 5 for mine. It's seems they (thaisuki) are not supplying there distributors. A real bummer. If it says in stock....get it otherwise double check with the store your purchasing from. I bought, yes already paid, mine from Swords of the East.

Aug 03, 2011

Thsitsuki.com
by: Scott

Thaitsuki.com is legit, I bought a ktn5 from them and received it quickly with no issues. Great sword by the way!

Aug 03, 2011

USA Thaitsuki Distributor
by: Michael Kuether

I have read quite a few comments on thaitsuki Swords and many are not all that positive. I will be the first to admit that there are many more than I who are who are far more knowledgeable about swords than I will ever be.
But these are the facts from my company.
I have been distributing these fine swords for over 6 years and have sold over 800 of them thru the dealer network we have.

We have had a total of 6 returns

3 were back in 07 with a polishing issue on the KTN series, this was corrected at that time. One was returned due to a Saya issue, we corrected that, and the other 2 were sent back due to economic issues of the customer.

Yes, these swords are on the high end of swords but the quality is superb. Most of the posts I have seen always seem to have the words "I have read" or "I have heard" in the disqualifiers for the swords. Please disregard the posts from SFI as these are 7 years old and all of these seem to come from one customer.

Please take some time when reviewing these posts that we cannot keep these swords in stock due to their quality and surplus beauty....there are many swords that will accomplish all the cutting exercises that the thaitsuki swords will do for a lower price, but none will offer the visual appearance that these swords will offer, and that’s not a knock on other swords. The last statement reflects what our end users have said.

Feel free to contact us at Viking Wholesale if you have any questions about these swords.

Mar 21, 2011

To the comment stating "Since this review was posted, Thaitsuki has improved 10 fold in there craftsmanship and quality."
by: Anonymous

After 400 years of making swords how much did they need to inprove in the last few years?
(I realize the comment I am referring to is itself a few years old)
If they weren't gettting it right for the last 1/2 century... what prompted them to improve now?

Feb 01, 2011

My thoughts...
by: Anonymous

I haven't had a chance to handle Thaitsuki Nihonto or see one in person yet, but in researching them... I found that in almost every post there is a comment, "overpriced... this brand is better." When I check it out... Thaitsuki wins. It makes me want one more.

Jan 13, 2011

Thaitsuki Nihonto
by: Jas

Does anyone know if this website is legit?

http://www.thaitsuki.com/index.php

Jan 07, 2011

Thaitsuki
by: Satsu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymUzPyT-tGU

High definition video review of the KTN5 Thaitsuki Nihonto.

Dec 08, 2010

Thaitsuki makes the best katanas currently available
by: Scott Kris

I have been collecting Japanese swords for years and even have been fortunate enough to acquire a couple of antique Japanese swords. I came upon Thaitsuki a couple of years ago and now own 2 of their katanas and a wakizashi. Anyone who says these swords are not that impressive is either a jealous competitor spreading misinformation or simply has never handled one. They are without a doubt the best that I have seen in their respective price ranges.

Sep 17, 2010

Politics
by: Roland

I'm a karakte practisioner, and a begining swordsman, trying out the european style and some eastern beside it, and offcourse i'm looking for a katana that suits me for my sport,

when i started looking for a katana, i came across those Hanwei katana's, every dealer tels me that those are the best, becouse there cheap etc etc
the dude that does this site, the same, all in awe about paul chen, and hanwei.

if you ask me, these Taitsuki Nihonto are beter made
more craftmanship, and even here paul comments that he's not impressed whit these blades,

i have a strong feeling hanwei pays the dealers and critics a big pile of money to talk em up.

i have the feeling dealers cant point customers to the right direction when people are looking for a sword

oke, folks that are looking for a katana becouse it 'looks cool' those chould be happy with a desktop piece, but practisioners, we whant battleready gear that does not fal to pieces when you hit a target.

when i came across the Thaitsuki katana's i felt that they looked good, and had a feeling of realy craftmanship, a real katana made by real people that know what there doing

i'm planing on getting me one in the near future so that i can practice my art, with all my heart and soul

Sep 08, 2010

Response
by: Matt

To answer the last post...you will not find anyone who really stocks Thaitsuki. They have become so popular that the manufacturer cannot keep up with demand. Thaitsuki is imported into the USA by one company and every dealer who sells them has to go through that company. So basically we are all working off of the same inventory. If one dealer is sold out, we all are. As for the Limited Ivory edition, if you want one, you should purchase soon because there are only about 10 left that have not been pre-ordered. Lately, for any Thaitsuki item, you have to pre-order and wait for them to come instock. If you don't pre-order, you will most likely not get one. If you or anyone else has any more questions about Thaitsuki, feel free to email me at sales@bladecenter.com.

Matt Bucknor
Blade Center

Aug 20, 2010

can someone help me out ?
by: anonimous

hi, im willing to buy the royaru katana ,the royaru WAKIZASHI and the limited edition ivory royaru katana . but id like to know a reputable seller who stocks all 3 of them . id wholehearty review them
once i find a dealer that sells them ....

Jun 28, 2010

Could not be happier with my Thaitsuki Nihonto
by: Jade Thorpe

A few months a go I purchased the Thaitsuki Dokuji Nami Sanmai Katana -KTN S02 from one of the Kenjutsu instructors here in South Africa.

I tested it the first time at a Tamashigeri session and it cut like a dream. I am really impressed with the quality of the blade and its fittings. It is a really beautiful Sword and is a pleasure to practice with !!!

Jade Thorpe
Kyudo Renmei South Africa

Jun 23, 2009

We are a dealer...
by: Swords of Might

There are very few distributors (Actually only 2 that I know of) and only a few dealers that carry Thaitsuki. We all acquire them from the same places. Thaitsukisword.com is the official website for the makers of the sword line.

Jun 23, 2009

dealers?
by: Anonymous

I have had dome diffuculty finding out who is and who is not a dealer of Thaitsuki in the US.

Thaitsukisword.com IS the manufacture, there are others who claim to be the only dealer of this line or who give that impression, they are not.

there is a dealer link at the above manufactures site that has all of their dealers and distributors.

May 12, 2009

Thaitsuki
by: Steve @ Japaneseswords4Samurai

I am a dealer for Thaitsuki and that gives me opportunity to experience many different swords from different manufacturers. Let me say these swords are A+.
Thaitsuki's are expensive swords purchased by discriminating buyers and we have never had anything other than enthusiastic feedback from purchaser of these swords.
Personaly I think they are the most beautiful swords currently produced.

Mar 25, 2009

I agree
by: Jason Moore

I agree with the review above me, I was hesitant to order the Thaitsuki brand because of those bad reviews. I could not have been more surprised when someone special ordered one, it came in, and it was one of the most beautiful swords I have ever seen. Couple this with high quality ito, god-like fittings and a super sharp blade, and I think those reviews must be dated or wrong. I am now proud to be carrying the full Thaitsuki line in my online store.

Jason Moore
Swords of Might

Mar 14, 2009

UP TO THE BUYER...
by: daab pattaya

HIE TO ALL THE SWORDS LOVERS...

I AGREE TOTALLY WITH PAUL ABOUT THE PRICE...
BUT... FOR THE QUALITY OF THESE SWORDS IN REAL USE... I LL CHECK MYSELF IN A FEW CUP OF MONTHS IN THAI LAND...

IN FACT... UP TO THE BUYER (S)...
CHINESE KATANAS ARE ALSO MADE AND CRAFTED IN A MORE THAN CORRECT WAY... SOME OF THEM ARE EXCELLENTS...

SWORDS... SWORDS... SWORDS... FOR ALL OF YU...
BYE BYE.
DAAB PATTAYA

Apr 25, 2008

This is a dated review!
by: Anonymous

Since this review was posted, Thaitsuki has improved 10 fold in there craftsmanship and quality.

The link in the above article to the "Sword Forum" shows comments and opinions made two (2) years ago.

Not saying that at that time they were not accurate, just saying that Thaitsuki Nihonto should be reevaluated and a more current review posted.

I have spoken to many people that have been very impressed with their Thaitsuki, both in performance and quality.

Articles that sit on the web without being updated for years, get indexed by the search engines, then show up in a search query for a product, really do not help the review process if the author does not keep the article current.

This site is a great tool for the Sword buyer and I am glad it is here. I just think it should be kept current.

Yes, I sell Thaitsuki Swords! I have not posted a link to my site because I have not come here to improve traffic to my site. I came to further the art and to keep the users informed.

Thanks for the site!

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