Hekisui Tanto (碧水) – Jade Water

Hekisui (碧水): jade water

Hekisui describes a deep blue-green water, the kind found in mountain lakes and clear, sheltered coves. In Japanese poetry, this colour conjures purity, coolness and an enduring sense of calm.

This tanto carries that luminosity onto its saya: a black lacquer surface alive with turquoise and gold flecks, like sunlight playing across still water. The restrained black fittings allow that shimmer to take centre stage.

A mirror-polished 1045 steel blade

The blade is crafted from 1045 steel, a reliable, widely used carbon steel that is straightforward to maintain. It follows a shinogi-zukuri geometry with a chū-kissaki tip and a mirror polish.

It features a notare-style line: this is a decorative hamon achieved through chemical treatment, not a temper line. It reproduces the appearance of a traditional hamon without its metallurgical properties.

A black hamidashi mounting

This tanto is mounted in hamidashi style, with a small round guard (maru-gata) in blackened alloy. Its surface is polished (migaki), without openwork, and finished with a crenellated edge. A gilded brass seppa accompanies it.

The fuchi and kashira in polished blackened alloy are unadorned. The handle combines wood with a white faux ray skin, beneath a black tsuka-ito wrapped in hineri-maki, with black menuki. The ichimai habaki in gilded brass is engraved with a floral kamon.

A black saya with turquoise and gold flecks

The saya is solid wood, covered in a glossy black kawari-nuri lacquer densely scattered with turquoise and gold flecks in the nashiji manner. The koiguchi and kojiri are lacquered in continuity with the scabbard, as is the kurikata with its gilded shitodome, which holds a black cotton sageo.

Dimensions and handling of the tanto

With a blade of 33 cm and an overall length of 55 cm, Hekisui is a tanto of generous proportions. Its 17 cm handle sits firmly in a single hand, and the reduced guard gives it a refined, slender silhouette. At 0.7 kg, it remains notably light. It measures 57 cm within its saya, a format that displays its shimmering scabbard to full effect on an exhibition stand.