This recreation of the famous sword cane wielded by the revered blind Iaido master Zatoichi in movie after excellent movie is good enough that owners want to know if it cuts. Paul Chen, the designer of this replica weapon, engineered a working blade that is still within the financial reach of many fans of both the movie and the sword.
A few corners were cut in design terms, otherwise the price wouldn’t be this affordable, but the result is still a high quality and very usable weapon, with some of the usual limitations of the walking stick or sword cane. In an effort to keep the authentic look of the sword in the movies, the blade has been acid etched to recreate the traditional edge-tempered hamon. That does affect the quality of the cutting edge of this tempered high carbon steel blade. Sharpening will fix that, of course, but you’ll lose some of the decorative hamon if you try.
Thirty nine inch overall length makes this a practical walking stick which conceals a 28″ blade that is much more of a sword than the usual sword cane spike. Strength is limited by the walking stick handle style; the blade is fixed in the black lacquered wooden handle with a peg and epoxy system rather than a full tang construction. The build is not rugged, but still a believable and usable version of the weapon that a master of the single strike might carry.
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