Kaneie Sword Art (kuh-nay-eh-yeh) is producing some of the most impressive Samurai Swords available today. We carry four levels of katana from Kaneie, from the extremely tough through-hardened Batto to their top-end swords made from Tamahagane (iron sand steel).
Based out of Shanghai, Kaneie forges their own samurai sword blades adhering closely to the traditional Japanese shapes but use modern steels to produce a superior overall production sword. Many of the steel and alloy fittings are sourced from Japan as well as the handle wrap (ito). Kaneie carves the scabbard and handle from high quality woods and shapes them to a high standard not seen outside of high end custom swords and, of course, Japan.
Over the last several years during their partnership with The Samurai Workshop in The Netherlands the overall sword quality from Kaneie has improved exponentially from earlier efforts and we feel confident in providing Kaneie as another high quality option to the samurai sword enthusiast.
Kaneie Review by Sensei Mike Femal:
We offer 4 levels of swords from Kaneie, each differs mostly in the level of blade polish, blade steel and materials used in the furniture. All Kaneie katana are well shaped and up to the task of traditional target cutting.
These sword blades are forged from the traditionally smelted steel known as Tamahagane. This technique takes a great amount of skill and knowledge to pull off successfully and Kaneie's smiths are up to the task. The result is a perfect blend of art and weapon of war.
The Menkyo collection is unique in every way and is the ultimate cross-over between ancient smithing techniques and modern steel. Each forged T10 blade is meticulously hand polished to a full art polish, bringing out every detail of the clay tempered hamon.
The Okuden collection is specifically designed for the Japanese swordsmanship student looking for a traditional sword. The T10 steel blade is differentially hardened and shows a real (non chemically enhanced) hamon. These swords are traditionally polished up to the uchigumori stage to save the costs of the shiage polish (the cosmetic finishing polish). This process is very expensive while not adding additional practical value.
The Batto Collection was specifically designed for Japanese swordsmanship students on a budget. They were carefully tailored to fit the unique needs of iaido, iaijutsu & kenjutsu students.