This and my other display-only katana
were some of my earlier acquisitions for my collection. I was told that
they had an aluminum-alloy blade (zinc-aluminum? I forget), which is interesting considering how blade-heavy
they feel. The blade is very thick, however, and the sword overall is
very visually authentic for such a cheap reproduction, down to minute
details such as the (Same) ray-skin texture in the hilt and the
bamboo peg (Mekugi) holding the hilt together.
The hamon (temper line) does not withstand close scrutiny though, as it has lines
that clearly denote machine-etching, and it does not line up properly on both
sides of the blade. None of this is obvious at a casual glance.
Still, these make for attractive display pieces, and if not removed from
the stand, it's hard to detect the fact that they're visual replicas only.
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