Are you interested in a 27.5" shishi with tanto? That size is being discontinued and when our stock is gone, it is gone. Please see our specials page for more information.

Bamboo Style Katana

At Bugei we reach into history to design blades to be used by the student of traditional Japanese Sword Arts. The Bamboo Katana was Bugei's first production sword. And all these years later the updated Bamboo Katana with its elegant black fittings and gold bamboo highlights continues to be one of our most popular swords.

Bamboo is a popular theme for Japanese sword mounts as it represents both strength and flexibility, qualities highly prized by the Samurai.

The tsuba (sword guard) is made from a plate of soft copper that is given a hard gloss black coating and then gold highlights are applied to the intricate bamboo. The tsuka (handle) is wrapped in black silk ito to complement the gloss black saya and glossy black fittings.

As always, our swords not only look like high quality swords, they also have quality of design, fit and finish that is not readily visible, like our 10" nakago with two mekugi to insure that the blade stays secure in the tsuka.

We also offer a wakizashi and tanto with fully matching furniture should you want to form a matching set (daisho). Included with each sword are a sword bag and quality cleaning kit we import directly from Japan. And as is true of all of our swords, each sword is carefully hand inspected and fine-tuned by Keith Larman before being offered up for sale.

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Bamboo Wakizashi

Bamboo Tanto

Order By Phone (800)437-0125

Dragonfly Katana

One of our newer and very popular offerings from Bugei is our Dragonfly koshirae katana. It is a katana of distinctive style with a thinner, lighter blade individually hand forged and folded from the superior Swedish Powdered Steel. It comes as a shinogi zukuri sword with a chu kissaki. It is available with or without bo-hi and is a very affordable sword.

Wakizashi and Tanto are also available in matched designs.

Our work with Paul Chen continues to produce swords of the highest quality -- the best value for the money. All of our swords are tested extensively before they are put into production. We make sure that our swords perform as good as they look. The Dragonfly held a special significance to the Samurai. Their seemingly tireless movement reflected the Samurai’s desire to give tireless service to his feudal Lord. The dark brown silk ito is set off by the black same making this a unique offering from Bugei. The lower shinogi and the scant hira-niku make this blade lighter and faster and gives it less resistance in cutting soft targets. The blade feels very light in the hand but it is not overly thin. However, one should take care in cutting anything more than soft targets with a sword of this design.

The lighter weight, with available bo-hi, and beautiful hamon and hada, a product of the forging and folding of the Swedish Powdered steel, will make this sword a favorite of Iai practitioners as well as anyone interested in a light fast katana. The tsuka has the slight “waisting”, ryugo, that is popular with many who study Japanese sword arts. The fittings are beautifully antiqued duplicating the lood of old iron. Ted Tenold is responsible for the design and authenticity of these fittings and we think that they are the best that we have offered.

Select the configuration you want below.

Dragonfly Cutting Video

Quicktime 2mb | Quicktime 9mb

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Dragonfly Wakizashi

Dragonfly Tanto

Please select whether you want a bo-hi (groove) on your Dragonfly Katana:

Please select the blade length and the tsuka length:

Or to order by phone dial (800) 437-0125

Crane Katana

The Crane katana by Bugei is an elegant sword at a very reasonable price. The Crane tapers more towards the tip than our heavier *feeling* Samurai model. The Crane style is forged out of Swedish powdered steel with a dramatic hada, grain pattern, resulting from the forging/folding process. The tsuba, guard, is a pierced crane style and quite beautiful. The Crane symbolizes wisdom and longevity. The menuki are a younger and an older scholar/sage. The meaning is this, a man of wisdom and integrity would be long in the service of his lord, usually surviving one lord to serve the next generation, thus the analogy with the Crane, wisdom and longevity. This sword will serve well those who want a faster blade for iaido and yet still want a blade that has the strength for serious cutting.

The nakago on the Crane Katana is ten inches in length with two mekugi securing the tsuka, handle, to the nakago, tang. The tsuka is wrapped in black silk ito. Like all of our swords many different blade and tsuka lengths are available providing a great deal of choice to fit each individuals' needs. As with all of Bugei's swords, each Crane katana is inspected and prepped by Keith Larman to insure the quality of the sword that you receive from us. Tsuka lengths of 11", 13", 14" and 15" are available with the Crane katana. Length of blade runs 27.5, 28.5, and 29.5, this allows our customers choices are unique in blades of this price and quality.

The beautiful hada (grain in the steel) is very apparent in our swords. This is the result of the extensive forging and folding process that is done by hand for each individual sword. The Crane tsuba is extraordinary in it's beauty and detail. It is a light tsuba and adds to the overall lightness of the blade.

Menuki: Sage/Scholar

Motohaba: 1 3/16 inch

Sakihaba: 7/8"

Torisori: 3/4"

Kissaki: 1 1/4"

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Crane Wakizashi

Order By Phone (800) 437-0125

Samurai Katana

The Samurai Katana is the strongest and best performing Japanese style blade ever offered at this price. The use of Swedish powdered steel, used in the construction of these shinogi zukuri katana, results in outstanding quality and performance. Strength, edge holding, and beauty have all been significantly enhanced by the use of this steel along with the complex folding process. The thicker, robust blade with ample niku ("meat") evidences a gunome style hamon and a dramatic ayasugi-hada with mokume and masame.

The tsuba is steel and engraved with a Samurai drawing his sword. The fuchi and kashira also feature Samurai drawing and cutting engraved in them. The forging process for this sword can be seen on our website. Each of these blades is individually hand forged and folded, heat treated, and mounted. Even with these design parameters each sword is unique. Performance testing has shown them to be strong cutting blades with a good resistance to deflection. James cut cleanly through a 12 mat roll at the Bugei Open House with the Samurai style blade. The nakago are 10 inches with two mekugi. This provides for strength and safety while cutting. These swords are also available with 11 inch up to 15 inch tsuka . The saya and the silk tsuka ito are black.

General Blade Specifications (remember each sword is hand forged so there is always minor variation): Motohaba is 1 1/4 inch, Sakihaba is 1 inch, Torisori is 7/8 inch, Hamon is in Gyaku Choji style, and the kissaki is 1 3/4 inches.

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Samurai Wakizashi

Samurai Tanto

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"Shobu" Katana

The "Shobu" Katana is a warriors blade that hearkens back to the 14th century, a strong beautiful blade in the robust, classic Shobu Zukuri style. This sword is an exceptional cutting blade as the samurai proved against the Mongol invaders where this style of sword proved more effective against the Mongol armor. This style of robust shobu zukuri evolved from the naginata/nagamaki that were renowned for their strength and cutting power. Shobu Zukuri means iris leaf, which refers to the shape of the beautifully curved kissaki.

In our efforts to keep alive the Samurai past we enjoy reproducing historical blades of the samurai. This is a sword of the samurai, from a time when they were the elite warriors of Japan. It is our heaviest, most robust sword.

Our Shobu Zukuri is available in two blade lengths 28" and 30" and three tsuka lengths 11", 14", and 15" to accommodate different styles of sword practice. The tsuka is wrapped in black silk ito and the saya is gloss black. Each blade is individually hand forged from Swedish Powdered Steel but is not folded to keep the price more affordable. The sword has a gentle suguha or sometimes a gentle notare hamon both of which we we felt more appropriate given the unfolded steel and the idea of a serious, no-nonsense sword.

Swedish Powdered Steel is exceptional for it's purity and even carbon distribution. Starting then with the best steel the smith then hammer forges each sword individually. Careful heat treating produces a sword with a true martensite hamon (rockwell 60-62). The differential hardening leaves the body of the sword softer and more ductile, making it able to withstand shock in the classic Japanese tradition.

Blade Specifications
Motohaba - 1 7/16"
Sakihaba - 1 1/8"
Torisori - 7/8"

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Shobu Wakizashi

Shobu Tanto

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Wave Katana

The Wave style katana is a new offering from Bugei. The use of Swedish powdered steel and sophisticated forging and heat treating results in outstanding quality and performance. Strength, edge holding, and beauty have all been significantly enhanced by the use of this steel The blade evidences a gunome style hamon and a dramatic ayasugi-hada with mokume and masame. Also available on this sword is bo-hi ( a groove in the shinogi ji the length of the blade). The Wave style katana is available with or without bo-hi and the price difference is $200.00. The Wave style is available (with pre-order) in several different color combinations of saya and tsuka-ito. With this sword you also have a choice of nagasa (length of blade) and length of tsuka so that you can custom fit the sword to your requirements.The steel tusba has an engraved nami (wave) pattern as does the fuchi and kashira. The nakago (tang) is 10 inches long and secured with two mekugi (holding pins) to ensure strength, safety and longevity of use. Please see the forging process within our site, complete with pictures on how these fine swords are made. A limited number of these blades will be available, call now to reserve your sword.

Once orders have been placed they cannot be changed.

PLEASE ALLOW 6 TO 9 MONTHS FOR DELIVERY

Sword Selection

Katana Options

Wakizashi Options

New Wave Tsuba

Orignal Wave Tsuba

Square Wave Tsuba

Order By Phone (800)437-0125