Any recommendations for a real katana (traditionally made)

[u/More-Competition-603]

Looking for a traditionally made katana, i don't care so much about the type of steel as long as it's a quality katana but i would like a budget friendly katana, not a fake one that can be sold for like 30 quid. A proper katana, i wouldn't mind even a name of a company that sells good traditionally made katana's.

[u/KeyAgileC]

What do you mean by "traditionally made"?

The traditional manufacturing method is how swordsmiths in Japan do it. The process involves tamahagane, lots of manual labour, and years of training to produce a sword to their quality standards. That is traditionally made, they come with a certificate of authenticity, and they cost thousands, at least.

But you mention you're looking into 1060 carbon steel "traditionally made, budget friendly" katanas, so clearly the authentic method is not what you care about. So when you say "traditionally made", what do you mean? What part of the process do you want to go in what way?

[u/More-Competition-603 → u/KeyAgileC]

By traditionally made, i mean with a certification as cheap as possible originally the best quality i can afford with a few hundred quid maybe 500 ive established it'll take time to save up but for the meanwhile while im waiting for enough to buy a tamahagane katana. Just for practise at the moment, i know it seems like im contradicting myself, but to sum it up, cheap, good-decent quality steel, certification, hamon, part of what i meant by traditionally made is folded steel.

[u/itomagoi → u/More-Competition-603]

You said quid, which implies that you are in the UK. There's a "samurai sword" ban in the UK (I was there when it came into effect and I had already started iaido). Exception is made for genuine nihonto (in this case certificated by a body like the NBSK), or for practitioners of a martial art. So you'd have to be practicing iaido or a similar art to own a replica sword or a live blade that isn't classed as nihonto. Judging from your question and follow up comments though, you do not belong to a Japanese sword art, and you're nowhere near the budget for a nihonto.

Btw, owning a nihonto isn't just funsies. They are both weapons and works of art and there's some responsibility involved as an owner. There's health and safety because those things are bloody dangerous. But even if you only own one to admire it and no one else sees it, or are pretty good at safe handling, they can rust quite easily so you would need to be familiar with how to care for one.

[u/More-Competition-603 → u/itomagoi]

Very good observation, which is precisely why i wanted a traditionally made one because the law states that as long as it's traditionally made and not kept in public, it's allowed, and i would be practising iaido with a teacher of the art, their aren't many people willing to teach iaido in london but their are a few im aware of the danger (training grip strength by the way) so ill limit the speed to what i think could help me practise at a good speed with minimal risks and the most control

[u/itomagoi → u/More-Competition-603]

There's a good number of BKA (British Kendo Association) iaido clubs in and around London, plus some others like battodo (more emphasis on test cutting so you'd actually need a live blade). Being a member of these permit you to possess an alloy iaito (cannot be sharpened) or a non-Japanese shinken (live blade).

If you are serious about learning iai, contact a club near you, ask to watch a practice, join, and talk to the sensei about what the requirements in terms of sword specifications are for that dojo.

Here the BKA's dojo listing. You can filter for iaido and region: https://www.britishkendoassociation.com/dojo-listings/

If you are serious about being a nihonto collector then I would suggest at minimum read up on how they are made and possibly join a nihonto appreciation group to learn more. You can start here:

https://youtu.be/VE_4zHNcieM

Worst thing you can do is be a larper who has a fetish for Japanese swords, buy one and ruin it as a work of art or maiming someone or yourself due to a lack of knowledge.

[u/More-Competition-603 → u/itomagoi]

Thank you, very useful information

[u/kevmofn → u/More-Competition-603]

A certified nihonto is at least 6k USD on the bottom end so you should just go train at the dojo with a bokken first if anything

[u/kloborgg → u/kevmofn]

I'm not sure where people are getting these numbers. You can pretty reliably find lower end antique Nihonto in koshirae for $2000-3000. If you're willing to get something in very rough condition with flaws you can find even cheaper options. With the exchange rate today, you can find legitimately very nice signed, papered, well polished swords for 5-6k, hardly "bottom end".

[u/kevmofn → u/kloborgg]

If you can find a NBTHK certified nihonto for 2-3k thats cool but I dont think I've seen anything like that

[u/kloborgg → u/kevmofn]

No offense, but where have you been looking? This sold for $2400 from Aoi Art this month: https://sword-auction.com/en/product/24666/as24412

But that's assuming we're sticking to NBTHK, which is a mark of quality and signature authenticity, but not a requirement for genuine Nihonto. There are full sized Nihonto katana in koshirae for sale from RVA right now for under $3k, and Tokyo Sword sold an antique katana for $600 last week.

[u/kevmofn → u/kloborgg]

Ohhh nice I didn’t know! OP needs a certified sword that’s why we are sticking with at least NBTHK. He can’t own a random sword in the UK.

[u/kloborgg → u/kevmofn]

I've never heard that you need NBTHK papers for it to be legal in the UK. Just that it's "traditionally made" before 1954, which applies to every Nihonto antique.

[u/grimdorktabletop → u/More-Competition-603]

Any good instructor worth his salt wouldn't let you loose with a live nihonto until you're at least a 3rd Dan, it's far too dangerous. Nothing wrong with you owning one if that's what you really want but you're looking at a starting price of around £3000. You would also probably need to go to Japan to pick it up as the UK sword laws are an absolute joke. Nosyudo offer genuine nihonto for sale, or you can commission one yourself through Tozando.

I would recommend joining an iaido club, getting familiar with a good quality iaito (non-live zinc alloy practice blade) before investing in a genuine shinken. We get it, samurai swords are cool. But do it right or you're just another liability with a samurai fetish.

[u/More-Competition-603 → u/grimdorktabletop]

Your words sliced through the other comments, jk 😜 thanks, though. Maybe it'd be better for me to wait a while since I'm not properly trained yet and can't afford one of such a price since it's also quite dangerous it wouldn't be worth it for me with my current level of knowledge on how it works (skill) to be equip with such a weapon.

[u/grimdorktabletop → u/More-Competition-603]

You'll thank yourself in the long run when you realise just how personal a nihonto is to each person. Learn your preferences and the reasons for them before committing to the real deal.

[u/KeyAgileC → u/More-Competition-603]

Several manufacturers offer folded steel, but generally at a premium. Note that folding modern steels like 1060 carbon does nothing except for being slightly different aesthetically, as the folding process is for removing impurities that 1060 does not have.

I do not know what you mean by "certification". What would you want your sword to be certified as? The certification of authenticity is only for the real traditionally made katana, you will not get it unless you purchase one of those (again, this will cost you thousands).

If you want something genuinely japanese, and you want to practice, have you considered getting an iaito? That is within your budget, manufactured in Japan, and it's not the greatest idea to just start swinging a sharp sword around anyway. Nosyudo makes great iaito.

[u/DRSENYOS → u/More-Competition-603]

'Certification' implies criteria that most laypeople may not grasp. What would be your definition of 'certification'?

No offence meant, sincerely.

[u/amatuerscienceman → u/More-Competition-603]

Certified japanese sword is like minimum $5,000

[u/lightskinloki → u/More-Competition-603]

You don't want an actual traditionally made katana. Get a honshu and call it a day. All your comments tall about price and usability and everything. Just get a honshu katana for $200 you want to use it for practice anyway you don't need a traditional hand made katana for that.

[u/More-Competition-603 → u/lightskinloki]

Sadly, my country requires one if at all.