Citadel – Lotus Katana – Munitions Grade

Optimized for the practitioner of Tameshigiri who wants a stand-out sword, the Lotus Katana from Citadel Knives and Swords is limited to a production run of 100 swords. It has been signed by its smith on the blade nakago, along with its production number.

The blade, differentially hardened by the traditional clay tempering method, is crafted from 1075 high carbon steel. It is brought into its full beauty by a traditional polishing using a combination of natural and synthetic polishing stones.

The solid blade has been optimized for repeated cutting durability by omitting a Bo-Hi groove. While a blade lacking the Bo-Hi makes for a blade with robust geometry it does make for a heavier blade. This was negated on the Lotus Katana by giving the blade a mune spine that is tapered on the blade plane between the mune spine and the shinogi central ridge, which runs down the middle of the blade. This tapered spine also allows for the blade plane between the shinogi and the edge to be thicker, thereby creating a strong and druable style cutting edge with emphasized ''Niku'' without upsetting the balance of the blade with the added thickness. This helps ensure that the blade can be robust enough to cut harder traditional targets, such as bamboo, repeatedly whilst resisting chipping of the edge.

The Katana fittings are hand cut and shaped from pure iron. Its tsuka grip has been hand carved to fit its specific nakago tang. The tightly wrapped ito is of natural black silk that has been imported from Japan - underneath, it has a the paper triangle hishigami to ensure a traditional, and tight fit. The ito has been overlaid over a full-wrap samegawa rayskin and two lizard menuki are wrapped between the ito and tsuka. A full wrap rayskin, while common historically, is now quite rare among reproductions.

The wood Saya has been coated with black lacquer and its koiguchi, kurikata and kojiri fittings are of polished buffalo horn.