Ginga Ryū Wakizashi (銀河龍) – Galaxy Dragon

Ginga Ryū (銀河龍): the dragon of the Milky Way

In Japanese, the Milky Way is known as ginga : literally the “silver river”. The dragon, a creature of water and sky, finds its natural place within this celestial current, appearing to swim among the stars.

This wakizashi makes that vision its own: a blue dragon with gilded accents, painted across a glittering silver lacquer that shimmers like a night sky. The silver mounting with golden blossoms carries that brilliance through every detail.

A T10 steel blade with a genuine gunome hamon

The blade is crafted from T10 steel, a high-carbon steel prized for its hardness. Clay-tempered, it reveals a genuine gunome hamon, sharply defined between the lightly greyed satin body and the paler cutting edge.

The geometry follows classical shinogi-zukuri proportions with a chū-kissaki point, a mirror polish, and a bo-hi groove. The blade is hand-sharpened, an artisanal finish that makes all the difference.

A silver hamidashi mounting with golden blossoms

This wakizashi is mounted in hamidashi style, with a small round tsuba (maru-gata) in silver-toned alloy, decorated with a crown of golden blossoms in raised relief (takabori) and a rounded rim (maru-mimi). A gilded brass seppa accompanies it.

The fuchi and kashira in chiselled silver-toned alloy bear golden blossoms in relief, matching the tsuba. The handle combines wood with a faux white ray skin, wrapped in white tsuka-ito in hineri-maki, with gilded menuki. The habaki in gilded brass features geometric openwork set against a granulated black alloy ground (nanako).

A silver saya with a blue dragon

The saya is solid wood, covered in a glittering metallic silver lacquer upon which a blue dragon with gilded highlights is painted along its full length. The koiguchi and kojiri are lacquered in high-gloss black. The black-lacquered kurikata with a gilded shitodome holds a midnight blue and gold cotton sageo.

Dimensions and handling of the wakizashi

With a blade of 51 cm and an overall length of 78 cm, the Ginga Ryū carries the proportions of a wakizashi, the shorter companion to the katana. Its 23 cm handle offers a comfortable single-handed grip, and its compact tsuba gives it an elegantly slender profile. At 1 kg, it remains entirely manageable. In its saya it measures 80 cm, an ideal format for display.