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Citadel Yoshi

Nagasa : 71 cm – 28”
Tsuka : 28 cm – 11”
Mihaba at Munemachi : 30 mm - 1”3/16^th
Mihaba at Yokote : 23 mm – 14/16^th

Kissaki : 44 mm – 1. ½”
Kasane at Munemachi : 6.5 mm – 4/16^th

Hamon : Subtle Rolling suguha
Boshi : sansuka boshi (Subtle)
Yokote : Genuine
Medium amount of niku
Sori is 13mm about half inch.
Itomaki : Silk hinerimaki, nice tight and even wrap
Fuchi/Kashira : Higo style
Saya : Kuroishime

 I got this Katana a view days ago from http://www.showato.nl  and I must say I really like it, its build is very nice with good materials and nice finishes, the Sageo was left behind in the shop, its there just not for the review.

 The koshirae:

 The fuchi and kashira are higo style a bit simple for a katana in this price range but the finish patina and shitodome are very nice.

The tsuka holds real same with nice nodes, it’s wrapped in dark blue silk, the diamonds are almost perfect and the wrap is very tight, the menuki are brass/bronze with a nice antique finish. It holds one mekugi, some might see this as a safety issue but with everything put together like it is here, I doubt there would be a problem, checking the mekugi once in a while is standard practice right?

The tsuba is iron in sukashi style with a nice deep black patina and clean cut outs.

The seppa are brass

The habaki on this sword is the best fitted habaki I have ever seen on a production blade, it’s made from copper and is nicely colored.

The saya is Kuroishime style, (black with speckles) the paint job is very clean and feels nice to the hand. The Kurigata, Kojiri and koiguchi are all buffalo horn and shaped and finished to perfection.

The blade fits in the saya like a glove and does not rattle when shaken.

 The Blade:

 The Shape of the blade is more traditional then other production blades I have in my collection, it has a high shinogi with a nice taper to the mune.

The lines are all very crisp and kissaki is very well shaped with real yokote.

The polish is very good but a bit to shiny below the shinogi for my taste, I also think the hamon would come out better if finish polish was not so mirror like.

The hamon suguha is subtle but can be seen under normal lightning conditions, there is boshi in the kissaki but it is very subtle.

 Balance and handling:

 Aldo the blade might be a bit short for most I don’t find it a disadvantage, the balance is a bit forward but not to much, POB is 9 cm (3.5 inch) in front of tsuba.

The tsuka fits me very good and the length suits me just fine.

I only had one mat left over and with the bad weather here I did not have time to go outside and set up a photo shoot.

The cutting went very smoothly, needed minimal effort to get clean cuts all the way thru.

PICTURES CLICK HERE