GETTING MY KATANA JAPANESE SWORD TO WORK

Sword Students acquire and study oshigata, or paper tang-rubbings, taken from the blade: to determine the mei, the hilt is taken off as well as the sword is held stage aspect up. The mei is chiseled on to the tang to the aspect which ordinarily faces away from the wearer's entire body when getting worn; since the katana and wakizashi are generally