The very best and most affordable choice for your own Katana customization project, the Cheness Shirasaya ('White Scabbard') Katana is essentially a traditional 'disposable' protective container for long term storage of the beautiful monosteel 9260 Spring Steel bare blade within. In other words, it is a blank canvas used as the foundation to build your own personalized sword.

The raw wood itself is unlacquered to allow the steel in the blade to 'breathe' and as a consequence is open grained and very porous. As such it can become soiled if handled with dirty hands, so I recommend washing your hands or wearing gloves before handling this saya if used for display. The saya may also have absorbed some of the oils used to protect it from the elements during ocean transport, some of the oils will be visible from the exterior of the scabbard..

In terms of functionality, a blade mounted in Shirasaya is not recommended for practical cutting exercises (unless you are a Yakuza gangster from Japanese movies that is!). The reason why is simply due to the lack of a tsuba (hand guard) and unwrapped handle, which risk your hand slipping onto the (extremely sharp) blade.

At the end of the day, this is the ultimate value for money choice for a do it yourself Katana customization project or a cool 'Yakuza Gangster' style display piece, and at this price, is absolutely the most affordable TRUE Spring Steel Blade on the market.

MEASUREMENTS

Blade Length: 28"
Handle Length: 10.4"
Overall Length: 40.25" (includes Saya)
Weight: 2lbs (with bo-hi)