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This is a true sword made with Tamahagane steel. It has been forged by Master Takemoto. He is the first chinese sword smith to use Tamahagane to forge swords. This an extremely rare piece for serious sword collectors.

What's Tamahagane? Tamahagane is a type of Japanese steel, translated it means "jewel steel". It has been primarily used to make Samurai swords, such as the katana, and some tools. In Japan, native supplies of the base iron ore are very low, therefore, they only smelt it for Japanese swordsmiths.

The smelting process used is different from the modern mass production of steel. A clay vessel about 1.1 meters (4 feet) tall, 3 meters (12 feet) long, and 1.1 meters (4 feet wide) is constructed. This is known as a tatara. After the clay tub has dried, it is fired until dry. A charcoal fire is started from soft pine charcoal. Then the smelter will wait for the fire to reach the correct temperature. At that point he will direct the addition of iron sand known as Satetsu. This will be layered in with more charcoal and more iron sand over the next 72 hours. 4 or 5 people need to constantly work on this process.

It takes about a week to build the tatara and complete the iron conversion to steel. When the process is done they will break the clay tub and take out the steel bloom known as a kera. At the end of the process the tatara will have consumed about 10 tons of satetsu and 12 tons of charcoal leaving about 2.5 tons of tamahagane. That's why the Tamahagane is rare and expensive.

Who is Takemoto? Takemoto is a Taiwanese with 30 years of sword training experience. Takemoto felt that he could not find a sword to suit himself, so he left Taiwan and went to Japan to learn traditional Japanese sword forging. After 4 years of learning he mastered the skill of forging Tahamagane. Takemoto left Japan and traveled to LongChuan China to forge his swords. LongChuan has the best place to forge swords for the past 2,500 years ago.

In 2006 Takemoto brought his swords and knives to the Shot Show, hosted in Atlanta Georgia. The buyers were amazed by the quality and hardness of the swords and knives he had created.

The wakazashi we are selling was collected by one of Takemoto's friend. We only have one piece.

The Wakazashi was the side arm of the Samurai. Typically the sword was worn with a Katana to make the full Daisho. The term side arm was used because the Samurai was never without his Wakazashi. From the time he woke up to the time he went to sleep the Samurai wore his Wakazashi. When asleep the Wakazashi was always within reach. Even when it was prohibited to wear a Katana a Wakazashi was still allowed to be worn.

All aspects of the blade have been traditionally constructed. From the creation of the steel using Satetsu to the hand polishing of the blade, every step of the swords forging has been done by an expert sword smith.

• Overall Length: 21.125 "
• Hardness: 57, 62 degrees
• Blade Length: 14.75 "
• Blade Material: High Carbon Folded Steel
• Handle Length: 6.375 "
• Blade: Sharp
• Blade Thickness: 0.375 "
• Fittings Material: Copper
• Blade Width: 1.375 "
• Saya Material: Wood
• Scabbard Length: 15.5 "
• Tsuka Material: Wood
• Condition: Brand New
• Accessories: Silk Sword Bag