Iron Tiger Forge – Mitsudomoe – T10 Differentially-Hardened Katana – Munitions Grade

The Iron Tiger Mitsudomoe Katana is named after the the symbolic form of its tsuba; the Mitsudomoe is a key symbol of Shintoism and its three elements are said to represent Man, Earth and Sky. This symbol has an early association with the Shinto war god Hachiman and was thus regarded as an emblematic symbol for the Samurai and his spirit.

The blade is crafted from differentially-hardened and sharpened T10 steel. The tempering of the blade has left it with a very visible, wave-like hamon along its edge. The tip of the blade has a geometric yokote and Chu-Kissaki tip.

The blade was lightened by giving it a long and substantial bo-hi groove in the spine; this gives the spine of the blade a profile similar to an I-beam and it succeeds in reducing overall weight while sacrificing little durability. Though the blade loses some of the driving power in a cut without the additional mass, it gains a notable degree of agility. As an aside, the groove disturbs the flow of air over the blade as it moves, making it easy to create an audible whoosh as the blade slices the air - this is called the Sword Wind, the Tachikaze. A trained ear can use the pitch of this sound to know the alignment of his blade as he strikes.

The tsuba, fuchi and kashira fittings are humble, elegant iron and the wooden tsuka grip is inset with panels of blackened rayskin. It is finished with a tightly knotted wrap of brown silk tsuka-ito cord; the interwoven menuki are brass.

The saya scabbard is carved from wood and is completed with a finish of textured brown lacquer. A matching brown sageo is fitted to the scabbard. Included is a black cloth sword bag.