Damascus Steel Katana with Copper Lotus Leaf Tsuba - Frog & Lotus Bud Motif, Black Wrap

The blade is forged from damascus steel using clay-tempering - a process that brings the steel to HRC 60 hardness while leaving a genuine hamon line along the edge. At 28.3 inches, the nagasa shows the characteristic flowing grain pattern of layered damascus steel, with a chrome-finished surface that catches light along the wave of the hamon.

The tsuba is the visual centerpiece of this katana. Cast from real copper and shaped as a lotus leaf, it carries deep relief vein lines across its surface in a warm reddish-brown tone. A silver-cast frog figure crouches at the top of the guard, rendered with fine scale and eye detail. Beside it, a gold lotus bud rises in tight ribbed form - three separate metalwork elements unified on one guard. Beneath the tsuba sits a gold habaki with an engraved honeycomb lattice pattern framed by parallel line borders.

The tsuka measures 10.2 inches and is built over a hardwood core wrapped with white real rayskin (samegawa), then bound tightly in black cotton ito in a traditional diamond pattern. The wrap is firm and even, with the white samegawa nodes visible between each cross. The tsuba color is recorded as gold, consistent with the brass-toned habaki and the gilt lotus bud accent.

The saya is shaped from hardwood in a natural wood finish, 30.3 inches long, with a black sageo cord attached. The natural surface finish preserves the wood grain without heavy lacquer, giving the scabbard a quieter visual weight that contrasts with the ornate fittings at the guard.

Assembled, the katana runs 40.5 inches at 2.65 lbs - proportions that reflect traditional tachi-length handling. The combination of a clay-tempered damascus blade, a three-element copper-and-gilt tsuba, real rayskin handle wrap, and natural hardwood saya makes this a piece built around specific material choices rather than generic fittings.