Gin no Sakura Tanto

As the name of the tanto suggests, Gin no Sakura (Silver Sakura) Tanto, the fittings are adorned with sakura.  It’s mounted in aikuchi style (no tsuba) with brass fittings and then chrome plated. The design of the fittings are sakura (cherry blossoms), making this a nice pair for our Gin no Sakura Handachi. It has a kaerizuno (hook) on the saya which prevents the saya from slipping upwards when worn through the obi. This would make an excellent partner for our Gin no Sakura Handachi.

In Japanese, the cherry blossom is called “sakura”, which is generally believed to be a corruption of the word “Sakuya” (blooming) from the name of Princess “Kono-Hana-Sakuya-Hime”, who is enshrined on the top of the mountain Fuji. This long name means “tree-flowers-blooming princess”, for the cherry was so well known in those early days in Japan that the flower meant nothing but cherry. The princess was so named because, it is said, she fell from heaven upon a cherry tree.

SPECIFICATIONS
• Blade material: 1050 carbon steel
• Edge: Fully Sharpened
• Treatment: Hand Forged, Through Hardened, Heat Treated & Tempered, Water Quenched
• Blade length: 11 inches
• Tsuka length: 5.5 inches
• Overall length w/o saya: 16.5 inches
• Saya: Wood in black glossy lacquered finish
• Tsukaito: Black synthetic silk
• Sageo: Black/White silk
• Fittings: Chrome plated brass
• Samegawa: Real rayskin panels
• Hamon: None

NOTES
• Specs may vary slightly from sword to sword
• Can be disassembled
• Includes cloth bag and carton box

The sakura is the flower of flowers to the Japanese people. It symbolizes their national character. This is because the life of a samurai of feudal times was proverbially compared to the short-lived cherry blossoms that last “no more than three days”, for a samurai was always ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of his master. Another saying is that “what the cherry is among flowers is the samurai among men”.