What materials are the scabbard and fittings made from?

The scabbard is crafted from wenge and rosewood with a natural brown grain and matte finish. All metal fittings - guard, pommel, and three scabbard bands - are bronze-toned alloy cast with traditional Chinese key-fret and interlocking ring patterns.

What is engraved on the white saya?

The white lacquered hardwood saya features a large ink-style mermaid figure engraved across its mid-section, rendered in black-and-white linework with a traditional Japanese woodblock-influenced aesthetic. It runs along a significant portion of the scabbard's length.

What colors and materials make up the fittings?

The tsuka is wrapped in white PU samegawa and white ito with gold menuki accents. The tsuba is a gold-tone alloy square with ornate scroll engraving. The hardwood saya is piano-lacquer black with a black-and-white braided sageo.

Do dark blue ito wraps require special maintenance?

Dark blue ito — whether cotton, silk, or synthetic — benefits from occasional light cleaning with a dry microfiber cloth to remove dust that settles in the diamond-pattern gaps between the wrap layers. Avoid damp cleaning on natural fiber ito because water can cause dye migration that permanently stains the underlying same (ray skin) panels. Silk ito is the most visually refined but also the most fragile; cotton ito handles humidity changes better and maintains its wrap tension over time. If the wrap begins to loosen at the kashira end after extended storage, a gentle re-tensioning by pushing the wrap from pommel toward the tsuba will redistribute slack without requiring a full rewrap. Keeping the handle away from skin oils during handling — use cotton gloves — significantly extends the life of the ito color.

How is the gold saya made and finished?

Updated Mar 2026

The saya is shaped from hardwood and finished in a gold lacquer coat, then wrapped in spiral gold banding along its full length. A gold sageo cord ties at the kurikata, matching the saya color for a consistent presentation.