Tsuki to Sakura Wakizashi (月と桜) – Moon and Cherry Blossoms

Tsuki to Sakura (月と桜): the moon and the cherry blossoms

The moon (tsuki) and the cherry blossom (sakura) are two of the most enduring motifs in Japanese aesthetics. To contemplate sakura in bloom beneath a moonlit sky is an experience celebrated across centuries of poetry, an emblem of beauty that is perfect precisely because it is fleeting.

This wakizashi unites them: cherry trees painted across the red saya, flowering branches pierced through the tsuba, and a habaki that carries both the full moon and the crescent.

A copper-toned two-tone blade with a wide bo-hi

The blade is forged in T10 steel, a high-carbon steel prized for its hardness. It follows a shinogi-zukuri geometry with a chū-kissaki tip and a wide bo-hi in a matching tone.

The finish is two-tone: a satin copper-brown body meets a polished steel edge, the two separated by a flowing undulating line. This line is a decorative hamon.

A blackened mounting pierced with cherry blossoms

The blackened iron mokkō-gata tsuba is pierced and worked in relief with cherry blossoms and branches (takabori and sukashi) against a polished ground (migaki), with a rounded rim (maru-mimi) and two hitsu-ana openings. A gilded brass seppa completes the assembly.

The fuchi and kashira in smooth blackened alloy are left undecorated. The handle combines wood with a faux yellow ray skin, wrapped in a black tsuka-ito in hineri-maki, with black menuki. The ichimai habaki in gilded brass is sculpted with waves and pierced to reveal a full moon on one side and a crescent moon on the other.

A red saya painted with cherry blossoms

The saya is crafted from solid wood, finished in a brilliant aka-nuri red lacquer and painted with multicoloured cherry blossoms. The koiguchi and kojiri are lacquered in the same red, continuous with the saya body. The red-lacquered kurikata with a gilded shitodome holds a black cotton sageo.

Dimensions and handling of the wakizashi

With a 51 cm blade and an overall length of 78 cm, Tsuki to Sakura carries the proportions of a wakizashi, the short companion to the katana. Its 23 cm handle allows a comfortable single-handed grip, with room for a supporting second hand. At 1 kg, it remains perfectly manoeuvrable. Sheathed, it measures 80 cm in total, a format that allows the red saya to be displayed to its full effect.