japanese sword / nihonto

This wakazashi is a very sound and healthy blade and appears to be an older koto beauty.. The blade is wide and has a beautiful curvature that reminds one of the old Bizen school. The quality of the sword is also very good. The hamon is bright and has very good activity. The hada is milky looking and is forged well with much ji-nie and utsuri appears. The overall feel of this blade is one of a well balanced beautiful wakazashi that is very sharp. The hamon is frosted with nie and the hada is a tightly well forged mokume with itame.

The koshirai is a matching set of handachi inspired fittings. The habaki is silver foiled in a key fret design. The tsuba is iron with gold inlay of water dragons. Many Chinese believed the dragon held, or at least chased, the sun, and many drawings depict this as a flaming red ball. However, over the years, this sun changed color from red to a silvery-pearl color, and gradually the ball came to be considered a flaming pearl, known as the night shining pearl. It is with this that the dragon is almost invariably associated in art.
The link between serpentine shaped dragons and the pearl is reflected in a legend that states that Chi Liang, the Marquis of Sui, who was a Minister of State, was out walking one day, and found a wounded snake to which he gave medicine and saved its life. Sometime later, he saw the snake with a brilliant pearl in its mouth. The snake said 'I am the son of His Majesty the Dragon, and I am indebted to you for the preservation of my life, and I have brought this pearl to thank you for your kindness.' The Minister accepted the pearl and, being a dutiful subject, presented it to his sovereign, who placed it in his hall.

In both Chinese and Japanese mythology, the dragon is closely associated with the watery realm, and in artwork is often surrounded by water or clouds. In myth, there are four dragon kings who rule over the four seas (which in the old Chinese conception limited the habitable earth). In China, a fifth category of dragon was added to these four, for a total of five dragon types:

Celestial Dragons who guard the mansions of the gods

Spiritual Dragons who rule wind & rain but can also cause flooding

Earth Dragons who cleanse the rivers & deepen the oceans

Treasure-Guarding Dragons who protect precious metals & stones

Imperial Dragons; dragons with five claws instead of the usual four

The saya is textured as stone with gold tsuka-ito and sageo.