The Crane katana by Bugei is an elegant sword at a very reasonable price. The Crane tapers more towards the tip than our heavier *feeling* Samurai model. The Crane style is forged out of Swedish powdered steel with a dramatic hada, grain pattern, resulting from the forging/folding process. The tsuba, guard, is a pierced crane style and quite beautiful. The Crane symbolizes wisdom and longevity. The menuki are a younger and an older scholar/sage. The meaning is this, a man of wisdom and integrity would be long in the service of his lord, usually surviving one lord to serve the next generation, thus the analogy with the Crane, wisdom and longevity. This sword will serve well those who want a faster blade for iaido and yet still want a blade that has the strength for serious cutting. The nakago on the Crane Katana is ten inches in length with two mekugi securing the tsuka, handle, to the nakago, tang. The tsuka is wrapped in black silk ito. Like all of our swords many different blade and tsuka lengths are available providing a great deal of choice to fit each individuals' needs. As with all of Bugei's swords, each Crane katana is inspected and prepped by Keith Larman to insure the quality of the sword that you receive from us. The beautiful hada (grain in the steel) is very apparent in our swords. This is the result of the extensive forging and folding process that is done by hand for each individual sword. The Crane tsuba is extraordinary in it's beauty and detail. It is a light tsuba and adds to the overall lightness of the blade.