Product Description
The Aikuchi Katana looks like a regular katana but without a tsuba. ‘Aikuchi’ is a style of mounting in which the tsuka and the saya meet without a tsuba in between. Originally used on the koshigatana (a precursor to the wakizashi) to facilitate close wearing with armor, it became a fashionable upper-class mounting style for tanto from the Kamakura period onwards.
The fuchi-kashira has the “Mitsudomoe” crest which was used by the following notable figures: Maeda Toshiie at the Siege of Suemori in 1584, one used by Kobayakawa Takakage at the Battle of Pyokje, Korea in 1593, and one used by Itakura Shigemasa at Shimabara in 1638. It also has a kogatana (small knife) on the saya.
Budoy –
Recieved my aikuchi katana more or less around three weeks ago. Its what you would expect an awsome blade, the grip is comfortable, the blade is sharp learned that the hard way. There is this one thing that bugs me i dont know if its normal but the samegawa or the ray skin wrapping is not fully wrapped around the tsuka is just panel glued i guess plus its not even a complete panel, its like pieces of samegawa glued to the tsuka and covered with the tsuka wrapping. Gave the sword a three stars because of this tiny detail.