Description
2nd Generation April 16, 2018 onwards: subtle wire brushed hamon, better blade flexibility. See videos below.
Yokai are strange and supernatural creatures from Japanese folklore. The word is a combination of the characters 妖 (yō) – attractive, bewitching, calamity – and 怪 (kai) – mystery, wonder. Many different English words have been used as translations. Yokai is sometimes translated as monster, demon, spirit, or goblin, but it can encompass all of that and more.
The world of yokai also includes ghosts, gods (kami), transformed humans and animals (bakemono), spirit possession (tsukimono), urban legends, and other strange phenomena. Yokai range eclectically from the malevolent to the mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them. Often they possess animal features (such as the Kappa, which is similar to a turtle, or the Tengu which has wings), other times they can appear mostly human, some look like inanimate objects and others have no discernible shape.
The tsuba depicts a yokai under a star magnolia tree with beautiful white flowers, while the kashira features a samurai in armor riding his horse.
The video below shows the difference in flexibility between the 1st Generation and 2nd Generation. The 2nd Gen is more flexible like a 1060 blade.
More subtle wire brushed hamon which looks like a real hamon.
ALJEN (verified owner) –
IT IS A GOOD SWORD AND IT CAN CUT AND ITS A GOOD PRICE FOR A STARTER, THE TSUBA AND THE METAL WORKS ARE VERY FANCY AND THE HANDLE HAS A GREAT GRIP. AND THERE IS NO BLACKSMITH NAME IN THE TANG ITSELF , ITS JUST A WORDS ” BLADE OF GEISHA” WRITTEN ON THE TANG OF THE BLADE BUT OVERALL IT CAN CUT AND HAS A GOOD LOOK TO IT.
Anton (verified owner) –
This is my first Katana and my first purchase from Geisha Blades. I’ll have to say that i am very impressed with it! This is the very quintessential Katana with its black fittings and its artistic design. According to Samurai tradition, you have to name your blade “meitou”, I named mine Murasaki from the Tale of Genji.
Ferdinand II (verified owner) –
The Yokai katana just arrived today, which really made my day because I was already in the middle of my daily practice. I was going to be able to put the Yokai to the test immediately, which I did, and now the review: ^_^
Box/Packaging:
The box that came with the Yokai katana was with a black cover and wrapped with packaging tape. Upon opening the lid, there were 2 styro placeholders holding the katana wrapped in black cloth from above it and another 2 from below it.
Sword bag:
The black cloth sword bag that contained the Yokai katana was not the same as the black synthetic silk sword bag that came with the GB regular iaitos. This one had a thicker feel to it, and it was made of cloth instead of the ones that came with the iaitos. I like this one better because it feels more durable.
Yokai Katana External appearance and feel (in saya):
After removing the cloth bag, I immediately noticed the cotton ito wrapped on the authentic samegawa. It didn’t have that same shine as with the Musashi Iaito’s tsuka-ito. But I like how this one tends to reduce hand and finger slippage more – I sweat a lot when I practice, so my hands and fingers tend to slide a bit when this happens. The ito was very tightly wrapped as well. 🙂
The tsuba has a great design to it. I just have to get used to the Yokai katana’s bigger tsuba because the Musashi Iaito’s is smaller.
The Mekugi pins are where they should be, except for one tiny concern where one of the pins is petruding from it’s mekugi ana a bit – just a bit too long, but it’s not a major issue. These were in there tightly enough anyway. 🙂
The saya has no scratches whatsoever, and it was as smooth as silk. There was almost no space in between the seppa and the saya’s koiguchi. Very nice fit! I changed the sageo on the saya to a thicker one, and transferred this thin sageo onto my Musashi Iaito because it had the length that I needed for the Musashi.
When I unsheathed the katana, I noticed some black stuff on the habaki. I used a cotton face napkin to wipe it off, and it did come off easily. The nagasa itself had a lot of oil in it – I’m guessing it’s because I requested from Aldwin-san to blunt this katana for a more realistic experience when performing suburi, kata and battoho. It turned out perfectly! There was just some scuffing near the middle of the blade towards the kissaki. Anyway, it’s still cool. 🙂
The weight of the Yokai katana was just perfect for my daily practice! Definitely, a very very big difference from when one handles an iaito or bokken.
Overall, I love that I decided to make this into an iaito. It’s a perfect katana for such usage. If I were to choose a cutter, I’d go either 1060 or T10 steel, but the Yokai katana’s 1045 is definitely appropriate for what I intend to do with it.
Thanks again for the additional training gear, Aldwin-san! Until next time – hopefully a 1060 or up shinken by way of contest or purchase! 🙂 Definitely going to need that very very soon for tameshigiri. 😉
Mariel Valera –
This was my second katana from Geisha’s Blade. Prior to this, I had acquired the Wado Ichimonji(Forged) which is also a finely made katana. When I first visited this website, this blade captured my attention for 2 reasons, the price and the fittings. Now that I am finally able to get my hands on this beauty, I can definitely say that this blade did not disappoint.
When I got this, I went ahead and tested this with a water bottle. At first, the edge alignment was off so instead of cutting the bottle, I ended up slapping it. There were no nicks or dents in the blade upon inspection, which is very surprising considering that the blade is made of 1045 which is the softest that Geisha’s Blade uses(My Wado Ichimonji has some very very minor edge roll/dents which is my fault as there were a couple of times that the edge alignment was also off, but that katana is made of 1050 which is harder). Upon my second attempt, I was even more surprised as I didn’t feel a thing when cutting the water bottle, and the cut was very clean. The fittings are also well made and very intricate. This is priced very reasonably, and is a very good purchase. The delivery time was also really fast, as with my first purchase. This katana is highly recommended. Will get another one, hopefully in the near future. Thank you so much Geisha’s Blade!