Uguisu Wakizashi (鶯) – Japanese Bush Warbler

Uguisu (鶯): the Japanese Bush Warbler

The uguisu, Japan’s bush warbler (often called the Japanese nightingale) is renowned for its song, which heralds the arrival of spring. In classical poetry, it is inseparable from the plum blossom and the idea of renewal. The floors of certain temples, deliberately constructed to creak underfoot, even bear its name: uguisubari, the nightingale floors.

This wakizashi takes the bird as the subject of its saya: small figures resting on a gilded branch, their plumage caught in a nacre-like shimmer. The gold and silver bamboo leaves of the fittings complete this study in nature.

A T10 steel blade with a genuine gunome hamon

The blade is forged in T10 steel, a high-carbon steel prized for its hardness and edge retention. Clay tempering draws out a genuine gunome hamon : milky, well-defined, and richly contrasted against the mirror-polished steel.

The geometry follows a shinogi-zukuri profile terminating in a chū-kissaki, with no fuller. Hand-sharpening and hand-polishing complete the blade, a level of artisanal finish that brings out the full character of the steel.

Buke-zukuri fittings with bamboo leaf motifs

The round (maru-gata) tsuba in black-patinated copper features an open-work ji-sukashi structure of raised bamboo leaves in gold and silver plate (iroe), a smooth polished rim and a rounded edge (maru-mimi). A gilt brass seppa accompanies it.

The black-patinated copper fuchi and kashira carry matching raised bamboo leaves in gold and silver. The handle pairs wood with a white faux ray skin, wrapped in a hineri-maki dark green tsuka-ito, with silver menuki set beneath. The ichimai gilt brass habaki is decorated with raised lily-of-the-valley (suzuran) against a finely crosshatched ground.

A black saya with birds on the branch

The saya is carved from solid wood and covered in high-gloss black lacquer, its surface decorated with birds perched on a gilded branch with a subtle mother-of-pearl iridescence. The koiguchi and kojiri are lacquered black in continuity with the scabbard. The black-lacquered kurikata, fitted with gilt shitodome, holds a dark green sageo.

Dimensions and handling of the wakizashi

With a blade of 51 cm and an overall length of 78 cm, Uguisu carries the proportions of a wakizashi, the shorter companion to the katana. Its 23 cm handle offers a comfortable single-handed grip, with room for the second hand in support. At 1 kg, it remains light and responsive. At 80 cm in its saya, it is equally suited to solo display or to being presented alongside a katana.