High Manganese Steel Hamidashi Tanto with Black Saya - Gold Engraved Blade, Silver Floral Tsuba

The blade on this hamidashi tanto is forged from high manganese steel, ground to a precision-finished edge with a mirror-polished bevel. What immediately catches the eye is the gold-engraved design running along the blade flat - a flowing arrangement of vines, florals, and circular medallions etched directly into the blackened steel surface, creating a sharp contrast between the dark finish and bright gold linework. Full-tang construction runs the full length of the handle, giving the piece solid balance across its 21-inch overall length.

The handle is built over the full tang using black ray-skin as the base layer, then wrapped in black cord in a clean diagonal cross pattern. The wrapping is firm and consistent end to end, with the traditional spacing that defines classic tsuka construction. Both the texture of the ray-skin and the cord pattern are clearly visible in the weave, reinforcing the handcrafted character of the piece.

The tsuba is cast in silver-toned alloy and shaped in the distinctive hamidashi style - smaller than a standard katana guard, with a shallow oval profile and notched lower edge. The surface is densely worked with cherry blossom relief: petals, stamens, and stems in high-relief casting that catches light from every angle. The same silver floral treatment continues on the habaki collar and the kashira pommel cap, tying the fittings together as a matched set.

The saya is crafted from hardwood and finished in matte black lacquer. Two bold red accent bands wrap the scabbard at the mid and lower sections, cutting through the black with clean, graphic contrast. The koiguchi (mouth fitting) repeats the silver cherry blossom casting found on the tsuba, maintaining design continuity between blade and scabbard. For those building out a Black Scabbard Tanto collection, the color palette here - black, silver, and red - is particularly cohesive.

At 21 inches overall and 2 lbs, this tanto occupies the compact end of the Japanese short sword spectrum. It ships in a 23 x 2 x 2 inch package at 3 lbs. Whether positioned alongside other pieces in a Manganese Steel Aikuchi collection or displayed solo against a wall mount, the combination of gold blade engraving, silver floral fittings, and red-banded black saya gives this tanto a distinctive visual identity that reads clearly from a distance.