Custom sword
Choose the measurements of your sword, see at once what it will weigh and how it will balance, and put it to a smith with us as intermediaries.
The calculator
Move the controls: the figures and the drawing change on the fly. What cannot be chosen when ordering —weight, balance, stiffness— is worked out here from what can.
Weights, balance and stiffness
| Blade weight | 784 g ± 47 g |
|---|---|
| Mounted weight, without saya | 1,110 g ± 44 g |
| Balance point, in front of the tsuba | 118 mm ± 10 mm |
| Flat stiffness at the base | 106 % |
| Flat stiffness at the yokote | 100 % |
| Taken away by the bōhi (base · yokote) | — |
100 % is an average katana from our register, without a hi. Figures are a guide, with the model’s margin of error.
Types and conversions
| Kissaki type (length / sakihaba) | 中切先 (chū-kissaki) · 1.73 |
|---|---|
| Taper (sakihaba / motohaba) | 0.69 |
| Sori | 1.8 cm · 0.59 sun · 六分 (roku bu) |
| Nagasa | 71 cm · 二尺三寸四分 (ni shaku san sun yon bu) |
| Nakago | 20.5 cm · 六寸八分 (roku sun hachi bu) |
| Overall mounted length | 97.8 cm |
| Tsuka / nagasa ratio | 0.37 |
Suggested length
- By the height table: 2.5 shaku, 75.8 cm.
- By the floor test: 69.3 cm (fist estimated at 71.8 cm).
- The table decides until you measure your fist.
Warnings (a guide)
- No warnings for these measurements and this use.
How we calculate
The blade is calculated as a section that tapers in a straight line from the machi to the yokote, with the kissaki as a wedge and the nakago with its own taper. Niku adds steel and a bōhi takes it away. Steel weighs 7.85 g per cubic centimetre.
The mounts add the habaki, two seppa, the tsuba you choose and the tsuka with its fuchi, kashira and menuki, without a saya. The balance point is the centre of mass of the whole, in millimetres in front of the tsuba.
The model is calibrated with 93 real blades from our register, with their measurements and weight: the typical error in the blade weight is 6.3 % (nine in ten fall below 15.9 %), and with the 8 that also give a mounted weight, 4.1 %. That is why every weight carries its ± and the balance point ±10 mm.
Flat stiffness is the resistance to bending sideways, the one a badly aligned cut puts to the test. The section is that of a shinogi-zukuri blade: the shinogi-ji at full thickness and the hira-ji thinning to the edge with more or less niku. The bōhi is cut into the shinogi-ji and is shallower at the yokote than at the base. It is compared, at the base and at the yokote, with an average katana from our register without a hi, which counts as 100 %, and how much the bōhi takes away is given separately. The tameshigiri warning compares with that average katana with the same hi.
The kissaki type comes from dividing its length by the sakihaba: below 1.5, ko-kissaki; up to 1.85, chū-kissaki; up to 2.1, chū-kissaki nobi; and above, ō-kissaki. In NBTHK kantei the point is read by eye, by its proportion to the rest of the blade, so these cut-offs are only a guide.
All figures are a guide. Every sword is its own world: the smith adjusts the measurements to his forging and to your hand.
Similar swords for sale
If you would rather have a nihontō that already exists, these pieces in the Catalogue are close to the one you are drawing.
Right now no piece in the Catalogue comes close to these measurements. The Catalogue changes every day: look again in a while.
Choose a smith
Working smiths to whom we can put your commission. None has a fixed price: each gives his price and lead time once he knows the commission, and we pass you the full quote before you commit. If you do not know whom to pick, leave «Advise me».
No smith chosen: we will advise you according to your measurements and your use Chosen smith: Advise me
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Akamatsu Tarō
赤松太郎 (Akamatsu Tarō)
The name of a family forge in Yatsushiro, in Kumamoto prefecture, and of the smiths who work there.
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Akamatsu Tarō Kanemitsu
赤松太郎兼光 (Akamatsu Tarō Kanemitsu)
A smith from Yatsushiro, in Kumamoto prefecture; Takamatsu-no-miya Prize at the Gendai Tōshoku-ten in 2025.
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Andō Hiroyasu
安藤広康 (Andō Hiroyasu)
Bizen-den
A smith from Okayama prefecture, born in 1979 and a pupil of Andō Hirokiyo; he forges in public at the Bizen Osafune Japanese Sword Museum.
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Enomoto Sadahito
榎本貞人 (Enomoto Sadahito)
A smith of the Sōshū tradition, trained by the mukansa Enomoto Sadayoshi.
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Fujiwara Munenaga
藤原宗永 (Fujiwara Munenaga)
A swordsmith from Iwaki, in Fukushima prefecture, devoted to recovering the forging methods of the Kamakura period.
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Fujiyasu Masahira
藤安将平 (Fujiyasu Masahira)
A Fukushima smith born in 1946, a pupil of Miyairi Akihira; a researcher of early sword-making and of primitive iron furnaces.
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Fukudome Fusayuki
福留房幸 (Fukudome Fusayuki)
Mino-den
A smith from Seki, in Gifu prefecture, trained in the workshop of Fujiwara Kanefusa.
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Fusahiro
房宙 (Fusahiro)
Mino-den
A smith from Kamikawa, in Saitama prefecture, who trained for eight years with the twenty-fifth Fujiwara Kanefusa in Seki.
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Fusatarō
房太郎 (Fusatarō)
Mino-den
A smith from Hashima, in Gifu prefecture, born in 1976 and trained by the twenty-fifth Fujiwara Kanefusa.
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Gassan Sadanobu
月山貞伸 (Gassan Sadanobu)
Gassan
A Nara smith born in 1979, eldest son of Gassan Sadatoshi; Kanzan Prize at the Gendai Tōshoku-ten in 2026.
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Gassan Sadatoshi
月山貞利 (Gassan Sadatoshi)
Gassan
A smith born in Osaka in 1946, son of the living national treasure Gassan Sadakazu; mukansa since 1982 and head of the Gassan family in Nara.
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Hidehira
秀平 (Hidehira)
A smith from the city of Nagano; a katana of his received the encouragement prize at the Heisei no Meitō Meikō-ten exhibition.
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Hirata Sukehira
平田祐平 (Hirata Sukehira)
Bizen-den
A Tokyo smith who trained for thirteen years with Ueda Sukesada in Osafune; his forge is in Ōme.
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Hirotsugu
弘次 (Hirotsugu)
A smith from Osafune, in the city of Setouchi (Okayama prefecture).
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Ishida Kunihisa
石田國壽 (Ishida Kunihisa)
A smith from Tomioka, in Gunma prefecture; a tantō of his was shown at the Heisei no Meitō Meikō-ten exhibition.
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Kagami Yashamaro
鏡夜叉麿 (Kagami Yashamaro)
A smith from Hōfu, in Yamaguchi prefecture; selected at the NBTHK Gendai Tōshoku-ten in 2023.
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Kaneda Kunizane
金田國真 (Kaneda Kunizane)
Bizen-den
A contemporary smith from Nara prefecture, awarded for his tachi at the NBTHK Exhibition of Contemporary Sword Craftsmen.
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Katō Shinpei
加藤慎平 (Katō Shinpei)
A smith from Tochigi prefecture; Kanzan Prize in 2024 and 2026 and NBTHK President’s Prize in 2025 at the Gendai Tōshoku-ten.
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Kawachi Ippei
河内一平 (Kawachi Ippei)
A smith from Sakaki, in Nagano prefecture; a katana of his received the encouragement prize at the Heisei no Meitō Meikō-ten exhibition.
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Kawachi Kunihira
河内國平 (Kawachi Kunihira)
Yamato-den
A smith born in Osaka in 1941, son of the fourteenth Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke; mukansa and Masamune prize winner in 2014 for recovering midare-utsuri.
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Kawasaki Akihira
川﨑晶平 (Kawasaki Akihira)
Sōshū-den
A smith from Saitama prefecture, a pupil of Miyairi Kozaemon Yukihira; third prize at the Reiwa no Meitō Meikō-ten.
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Kazuyoshi
和吉 (Kazuyoshi)
A smith from Miyako, in Iwate prefecture.
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Keiun Naohiro
慶雲直弘 (Keiun Naohiro)
The fifth Naohiro, a smith with a forge in Honjō, in Saitama prefecture, since 1989.
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Komiya Kokuten
小宮國天 (Komiya Kokuten)
A smith from Miike, in Ōmuta (Fukuoka prefecture); Kunzan Prize in 2023 and Kanzan Prize in 2025 at the Gendai Tōshoku-ten.
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Kōroki Fusaoki
興梠房興 (Kōroki Fusaoki)
Mino-den
A smith from Takeda, in Ōita prefecture, trained in the workshop of Fujiwara Kanefusa in Seki.
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Kubo Yoshihiro
久保善博 (Kubo Yoshihiro)
Bizen-den
A Bizen-den smith born in 1965, with his forge in Shōbara (Hiroshima); mukansa since 2017 and holder of an intangible cultural property of Hiroshima prefecture.
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Masahiro
将大 (Masahiro)
A smith from Kameoka, in Kyoto prefecture, born in the Tanba region.
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Masaya
正也 (Masaya)
A smith from Tomika, in Gifu prefecture; effort prize at the NBTHK Gendai Tōshoku-ten in 2023.
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Matsuba Kunimasa
松葉國正 (Matsuba Kunimasa)
Bizen-den
A smith from Hinokage, in Miyazaki prefecture, born in 1959 and made mukansa by the NBTHK in 2014; from 1995 to 2021 he signed Kunimasa.
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Mikami Sadanao
三上貞直 (Mikami Sadanao)
Bizen-den
A contemporary Hiroshima smith, mukansa since 1995 and holder of the prefecture's intangible cultural property for sword-making.
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Miyairi Kozaemon Yukihira
宮入小左衛門行平 (Miyairi Kozaemon Yukihira)
Sōshū-den
A contemporary smith, son of Miyairi Akihira, who took the name Miyairi Kozaemon Yukihira; mukansa since 2000.
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Miyairi Norihiro
宮入法廣 (Miyairi Norihiro)
Bizen-den
A Nagano smith born in 1956, nephew of Miyairi Akihira; an NBTHK mukansa and maker of the copies of Shokudaikiri Mitsutada and Honebami Tōshirō.
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Miyata Masatoshi
宮田正寿 (Miyata Masatoshi)
A smith from Gifu prefecture, licensed since 2023; newcomer prize at the NBTHK Gendai Tōshoku-ten in 2026.
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Mizuki Yoshimitsu
水木良光 (Mizuki Yoshimitsu)
A Tokyo swordsmith who illustrates popular books on how to appreciate the Japanese sword.
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Myōchin Munehiro
明珍宗裕 (Myōchin Munehiro)
A smith from Himeji, in Hyōgo prefecture; a katana of his received the encouragement prize at the Heisei no Meitō Meikō-ten exhibition.
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Nihon Genshōsha
日本玄承社 (Nihon Genshōsha)
A company of three young swordsmiths founded in 2019, based in Kyōtango, in Kyoto prefecture.
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Ogawa Kanekuni
尾川兼國 (Ogawa Kanekuni)
Sōshū-den
A smith born in 1953, the second Ogawa Kanekuni, made mukansa by the NBTHK in 2010.
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Ōhashi Yūshi
大橋悠史 (Ōhashi Yūshi)
A swordsmith from the city of Tottori who specialises in pictorial hamon.
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Ōno Yoshimitsu
大野義光 (Ōno Yoshimitsu)
Bizen-den
A Bizen-den smith born in 1948, mukansa since 1987; known for his copies of the tachi Sanchōmō, which was held to be impossible to reproduce.
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Osafune Sukemitsu
長船助光 (Osafune Sukemitsu)
A present-day smith from Osafune, in the city of Setouchi (Okayama prefecture); effort prize at the NBTHK Gendai Tōshoku-ten in 2025. He is none of the Sukemitsu of Osafune of the koto period.
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Sō Nobuyasu
宗信安 (Sō Nobuyasu)
A smith from the city of Fukuoka.
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Taira Kiyoaki
平清明 (Taira Kiyoaki)
A smith from the city of Ōita, licensed since 2019; selected at the NBTHK Gendai Tōshoku-ten in 2026.
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Takami Kuniichi
高見國一 (Takami Kuniichi)
Bizen-den
A smith from Sayō, in Hyōgo, born in 1973 and mukansa since 2019; in 2018 he made the copy of the tachi Shishiō that was offered at the Takeda castle ruins.
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Tanaka Sadatoyo
田中貞豊 (Tanaka Sadatoyo)
Gassan
A smith from Kusatsu, in Shiga prefecture, the last disciple of the Living National Treasure Gassan Sadaichi.
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Teruhira
輝平 (Teruhira)
A smith from Akaiwa, in Okayama prefecture; a wakizashi of his received the encouragement prize at the Heisei no Meitō Meikō-ten exhibition.
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Tomioka Yoshimasa
慶正 (Yoshimasa)
A smith from Sōja, in Okayama prefecture; President's Prize at the Gendai Tōshoku-ten in 2023 and prize of excellence, in first place, in 2025.
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Ueda Sukesada
上田祐定 (Ueda Sukesada)
Bizen-den
A smith from Osafune, in Okayama prefecture, born in 1947; he forges with steel he makes himself and bears the historic name Sukesada.
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Yamamoto Sukenaga
山本祐永 (Yamamoto Sukenaga)
Bizen-den
A smith from Osafune, in Okayama prefecture, who runs a forge that trains apprentices and makes its own tamahagane.
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Yokoi Akimitsu
彰光 (Akimitsu)
A smith from the city of Okayama.
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Yoshihara Yoshindo
吉原義人 (Yoshihara Yoshindo)
Bizen-den
A Tokyo smith born in 1943 into a family of smiths; mukansa since 1982, first winner of the Takamatsu-no-miya prize and teacher of many of today's smiths.
No smith matches the search.
Would you like it mounted in a koshirae to your taste? Custom koshirae
Enquiry
Send us the measurements and what you are looking for. The calculator settings and its figures travel with the enquiry; we carry on the conversation by email.