The Samurai Sword Blog

Recently I spent a few weeks in Japan buying parts for Ronin's upcoming tamahagane line and studying bare blades and fully mounted katana in museums and with some of Japan's leading dealers, who often had 20-30 katana for sale and on display. While I did not buy any katana, my focus is on dotanuki, I did purchase quite a few rare books which I was missing in my library. I was also allowed backroom access to dozens of swords, and allowed to take pictures of quite a few. So without further ad …

I used to have a nice section on the main Ronin site about Dōtanuki blades, and when I designed the new website, I forgot to add it.So what is a Dōtanuki katana?Dōtanuki is a Japanese swordsmithing school developed in the Higo province of Kyūshū during the Kamakura period. The Japanese kanji for dōtanuki translates to, sword that cuts through torsos. While samurai routinely tested their blades on the bodies of convicted criminals to judge their cutting ability, dōtanuki blades were renowned for …

This short sword is an unproduced Ronin which is being given away in the Ronin Katana 1oth anniversary contest. Thick blade with apple seed geometry. I didn't like the balance on it personally, so it didn't go into production. Tough as nails through hardened 1075 steel. Ronin Katana is the world's largest samurai sword dealer, with over 100 unique models for sale. Ronin has been in business for over 10 years, and our katana are used in dojos around the world. …

The Ronin Katana 10th anniversary prize giveaways continue. Ronin gave away a bunch or prizes last week, including an samurai sword from the entry level katana line. This week is kicking off with an eight fold path tsuba. Ronin has used this tsuba on and off for many years, and it was of course the tsuba used on the sword of Morpheus in the Matrix movies. Want to win it? Enter at contest on the Ronin Katana facebook page.  …

This contest just started on the Ronin Facebook page for a Ronin Katana habaki, in the falling rain style, and two seppa. Contest ends on Friday the 19th.10th Anniversary Contest time! Have the ebay sword blues? Great blade, but ugly parts? Get upgraded by Ronin with this habaki and seppa set!