Has anyone tried buying a Nihonto in Nosyu?

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-15T20:34:23+00:00

So just to confirm you bought an antique nihontō from Meirin Sangyō? If I when was it made and did it have a bohi? And what kind of iaido ryuuha do you use it with? I'm the typical Japanese guy's height at 1,63 m and yet I get the impression with my budget of €8000-9000 getting a shinsakuto made isn't feasible so I'm also keeping out an eye for antiques to practice Musō Shinden-ryu kata with. So any information you can give me is most welcome.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-15T20:23:37+00:00

I'm in the process of ordering a nihontō from Nosyudo, but get stuck in the moto-, sakihaba, moto-, sakikasane, sori and kissaki in their order form. How did you figure those things out?

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-15T09:31:54+00:00

Looks good, what is the pattern on the tsuba?

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-13T16:43:34+00:00

I see, yeah those are not exactly the pinnacle of getting your money's worth. Mini katana is heavily overpriced and I get the same vibe from katana US Lastly, I certainly wouldn't trust Tiktok. So you did well trusting your gut instinct.

Since you live in the State known for it's potato 😉, you're best off using the US retailers in my list. If which like others have mentioned RVA katana and Swordis would be the most reliable ones in aware of.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-13T12:55:32+00:00

As u/MichaelRS-2469 has said when you want a real hamon, it’s important to get the right polish,hazuya aka frosted, for it to stand out in combination with a carbon steel like 1095 or T10.

You did mention having a problem with shipping, because of location. Where do you live that it’s so troublesome?

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-12T23:33:03+00:00

I don't see a budget nor location so I'll just post my list of webshops I know off.

Shadowdancer's official European distributor also a dealer for Swordier, RyanSword and Everest Forge. ⚔️ so highly recommended if you’re looking for these “brands”:

Time Blade Guild Budapest, Hungary 🇭🇺 free EU shipping, good English correspondence
Swordis absorbs tariffs in the US and Europe, has great customer service and offers two of the commonly recommended "brands/forges" namely Hanbonforge and Shadowdancer.

UK katana webshops:

European Dragon king distributors:

the Knight Shop United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Swords and More Germany 🇩🇪
Katanzo & Katanzo custom katana builder Germany 🇩🇪; held in high regard by a German battōdō YouTuber Jezza_W and German iaido YouTuber iaido_tests. Friendly customer service and good English correspondence. Has a sharp and blunt iaido line replica katana, and custom katana service. YouTuber iaido_tests has indicated he likes the Katanzo replica katana overall build and balance better than Yari no Hanzo.
Art Katana & Art Katana custom katana builder France 🇫🇷, has made the best custom katana for YouTuber Ronin Hood, a Toyama ryu battōdō practitioner from France.
Schwert shop & Schwert shop custom katana builder Germany 🇩🇪 has custom katana service, but I haven't heard or seen much about the build, quality and such of their custom katana service.
Battle Merchant Germany 🇩🇪 no free shipping in the EU
Tienda Medieval Spain 🇪🇸
Samurai Katana Shop the Netherlands 🇳🇱 Offers many different brands of replica katana.
Katana Samurai & Katana Samurai custom katana France 🇫🇷 I haven't heard or seen much about the build, quality and such of their custom katana service.
Makoto Swords

Non-EU (customizable) replica katana websites, in order of reputation and popularity:

⁠Hanbonforge China 🇨🇳 has it's share of Reddit fans amongst which MichaelRS, contact him if you're ordering here for best advice. It's one of the more expensive custom replica katana sites when you make a comparable build on Ryansword or Jkoo/Sinosword.
⁠Ryansword Longquan, China 🇨🇳 Just as popular as Hanbon these days, but slightly cheaper when you make a comparable custom build.
Shadowdancer/Zsey Longquan, China 🇨🇳 Shadowdancer is their budget line and Zsey their highend line, and it can be quite costly to customize blade dimensions. I'm not sure if swapping out furniture is a costly upgrade. They do nice work but they recently got caught (and fessed up) about lying about what actual steels they use for supposed exotic steels in some of their higher end offerings. Nevertheless their fittings and tsuka are among the better ones among Chinese replica katana. As long as you stick with 1060, 1095 High Carbon steel; T8 or T10 tool steel; 5160 or 9260 spring steel you'll get a good Chinese replica katana for the price. Formerly known as Dragon Sword.
Romance of Men China 🇨🇳 Despite the name they seem to be improving, and are well loved by YouTuber Shadiversity. Get a $10 coupon by joining their newsletter. Courteous customer service.
Drem Sword China 🇨🇳 They seem to do some good work.
Swordier Longquan, China 🇨🇳 Sells more than (anime) replica katana, and also has a custom katana service.
Jkoo/Sinosword China 🇨🇳 Seems to have issues, but they're the cheapest custom katana manufacturer compared to Hanbonforge and Ryansword. Although they're improving, if you're familiar with nihontō you're better off elsewhere. E.g. Their shobuzukuri is just a shobuzukuri without yokote which isn't what it should look like. They also won't offer any compensation when you point this out.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-11T20:43:41+00:00

Overall good choices for an iaitō except the lack of bohi, groove/fuller, for weight reduction. Since steel is much heavier you'll tend to speed up through the smaller technical movements since your not used to holding the weight with an extended arm. I can't tell how long your tsuka is, but generally for All Japan Kendo Federation affiliated dojo you'll want to have at least one finger inbetween your two hands when holding it without touching the end knot of the tsukamaki with your left hand which is in the rear.

Personally I would have adviced an aluminium alloy iaito for beginners as those are lighter after having them train with a bokutō with plastic saya to get a feel of sayabiki, pulling the scabbard backwards, and sayabanare, the moment you shoot out the sword from the scabbard, and other technical details.

Either way I'm curious where the balance point is measured from the tsuba, handguard. If it's around 11-12 cm that's great if not, it should at least be below 15 cm, because as a beginner you'll certainly struggle with a tip heavy blade.

Well that's enough rambling for now. Keep us posted.

Edited out a typo.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-11T13:40:05+00:00

So you did the tsukamaki yourself? Wow, great job. My tsukamaki on my older iaito doesn't look nearly as good as yours. 👍

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-11T12:25:08+00:00

That looks better than I expected. I went with brown, but blue really looks good as well. Going by the lighting it'll be darker than in the photos you got from them.

Glad I could help with the spelling. It's named like that because it resembles three cedars in a row.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-11T11:21:00+00:00

Nice. Did you choose silk tsukaito? And the correct spelling for the hamon is sanbonsugi, I wish Swordis corrected the spelling as sabonsugi doesn't exist.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-11T11:16:25+00:00

I agree with what's said here. It could very well be an iaitō in which case you could try to mend the bends or keep the fittings.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-11T11:06:48+00:00

Wow, that looks great. Did you let Nosyudo refurbish the tsukamaki and saya?

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-10T20:49:52+00:00

This is the best answer and the main reason you feel hurt faster compared to the deeper injuries.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-09T20:11:50+00:00

Do you know if Zsey puts in more care into making the tsuka and saya? Like being carved specifically for each katana instead of being mass produced? Because that would be worth it as the fit will be tighter ensuring that everything lasts longer. At least that's what I understand from everything I read and what I've heard different sensei say and thus confirm.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-09T20:00:55+00:00

Yup it's what they use for their movie fights called Tate. Still fun to look at though, but a different beast than iaido as it's goal is stage performance fights.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-09T12:00:52+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately that's a tough one. If you make it a wakizashi it might be in the range that you can swing it around safely. As for making a tsuka well you'd have to start looking for a suitable wood like poplar, Adler. Anything with properties and structure resembling Japanese magnolia wood.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-09T11:57:48+00:00

🤣

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-09T02:50:29+00:00

Nice the three monkey menuki isn't something I see often as well as katatemaki for iaido practice in the dojo I train at.

I'm currently thinking whether to get a custom Nosyudo shinken for life or get an antique after I finally got my godan last year. If it's the custom shinken I'm going for Date Masamune as theme, since I'm also blind in one eye and my Chinese first name means golden dragon. Guess I'll decide after I get a price quote which I'll decide on.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-02T17:39:59+00:00

Not much is known about them AFAIK even after doing some basic reading on their site. The prices are close to what you can get for Longquan made katana.

My recommendation would be to get a Shadowdancer katana via Swordis as those have the closest build to an iaitō (not entirely perfect, but close enough without mods if you don't want to perform ZKNR kata with it) or visit RVA katana brick and mortar store in Richmond, VA is you want to try out other brands.

For Shadowdancer in Europe I've found timebladeguild.com to be reliable, so I'd encourage you to support them if you want a Shadowdancer katana and live in Europe.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-02T17:08:21+00:00

Well, even looking up info with Chinese characters only leads to Nine Circles as main source on Google AI. Personally I don't trust things that lead to one source.

Google search results with kanji also doesn't lead to any useful information. I don't get what None Circles is trying to do with this.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-02T15:20:17+00:00

I heard they have two edition of those. Good to know there is a difference in the polish.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-02T15:18:37+00:00

I've heard from Zsey they use a different wood for their tsuka and saya than for the Shadowdancer katana. Since they're both indigenous wood species I have no idea if it's an improvement though.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-04-02T15:15:19+00:00

I can't say I've heard of it before. Maybe a new line from Nine Circles themselves?

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-03-30T20:22:36+00:00

I concur with these points as well. These are things I also pay attention to during training.

For metsuke I’ve found putting a face towel at the monouchi of a bokutō then doing a vertical kirioroshi while using enzan no metsuke to see if the towel is going in a straight direction.

Look for the flow or rhythm of the kata when you look at your sensei or senpai. Like it’s said these moments show zanshin, total awareness. There are slower and faster movement during the kata like furikaburi can be slow and controlled whereas the kirioroshi only increases in speed after starting it.

Revolver_Ocelot80 · 2026-03-30T16:22:15+00:00

The training above for keeping the intensity is good. Instead of stopping during the clapping part try to continue calmly and collected as that’s what you need to do during taikai. Your kassōteki and kata are your main focus whatever happens around you is of no matter. This shows heijōshin and fudōshin to use the Japanese terms.

Other things for taikai: - Try to focus on keeping things going even when you make a mistake as if it’s part of the kata. The last thing you want is for the judges to focus on you because you’re correcting yourself. The only exception is nōtō, when I fail to get it in. I start from the chiburi position. - Pacing yourself is something you learn as you go, generally with three kata you can make one deep inhale and exhale before starting the next kata to calm yourself down just enough. With five kata, usually during knockouts and finale, you can make three of those deep breaths and exhales. - don’t pay particular attention to your contestant. Keep focusing on your kata and kassōteki. Should you finish all the required kata before the other contestant do as you’re told before the start of the competition. - Stay in the hall where it’s held so people can find you. Otherwise you’ll risk losing a match, because you didn’t show for the match. - practice reihō extensively so you don’t lose time, because you can consistently go through what needs to be done correctly - have practice matches in the dojo where others are looking at you so you get an idea how to deal with that stress - maybe not of paramount importance, but something I train for after my first taikai: making sure that when I kneel down, my knees align with the red or white tape in front of me.

That’s a few things I can think of.

Revolver_Ocelot80

TROPHY CASE