Tori no Mai Tanto (鳥の舞) – Dance of the Birds

Tori no Mai (鳥の舞): the dance of the birds

Birds in flight hold a cherished place in Japanese art, symbols of freedom, lightness and the turning of the seasons. Their dance above the branches evokes nature caught in a fleeting instant.

This tanto stages that scene in two acts: on the tsuba, birds soar among gilded scrollwork; on the saya, branches engraved into pale wood await them, as though this were the very tree towards which they are flying.

A mirror-polished 1045 steel blade with a wide bo-hi

The blade is forged from 1045 steel, a robust and widely used high-carbon steel that is straightforward to maintain. It follows a shinogi-zukuri geometry with a chū-kissaki point, and carries a polished wide bo-hi that stops short of the yokote, creating a striking contrast with the rest of the blade surface.

The blade is mirror-polished and bears a notare-style line: this is a decorative hamon.

Black fittings adorned with birds in flight

The round (maru-gata) tsuba in black-patinated ferroalloy presents a granulated nanako ground decorated with birds in flight and gilt-highlighted scrollwork, two hitsu-ana openings and a rounded maru-mimi rim. A gilt brass seppa completes the assembly.

The fuchi and kashira in blackened and gilded alloy bear a raised, chiselled frieze that echoes the tsuba. The handle combines wood with a faux white ray skin, wrapped in a hineri-maki brown tsuka-ito, and fitted with gilded menuki. The ichimai habaki in gilt brass displays a hammered scale-pattern surface.

A light wood saya engraved with branches

The saya is crafted in solid wood with a light varnish (kijiro-nuri) that allows the wood’s natural tone to show through. Engraved and pyrographed branches in brown run the full length of the scabbard. The koiguchi is lacquered black, and the rounded maru kojiri is left in varnished wood. The black-lacquered kurikata, set with a gilt shitodome, holds a brown cotton sageo.

Dimensions and handling of the tanto

With a 33 cm blade and an overall length of 55 cm, Tori no Mai is a generously proportioned tanto. Its 17 cm handle sits securely in one hand. At 0.7 kg, it remains light to carry. Sheathed, it measures 57 cm, a format that shows the engraved saya to its best advantage on a display stand.