Baika Tanto

The Baika Tanto by Dragon King immediately stands apart for its san mai steel blade, a laminated construction that gives this compact Japanese-style blade much of its character. Designed by Frenchie Jin, the Baika pairs its 9 inch san mai blade with a fully wrapped genuine ray skin handle and finely detailed gold plated fittings. For collectors looking beyond conventional mono-steel blades, the layered construction makes this tanto particularly interesting before its plum blossom inspired details are even considered.

San mai, meaning “three layers,” is a traditional approach to laminated blade construction associated with Japanese forging. Rather than forming the blade from a single uniform piece of steel, a harder steel core is forge welded between softer outer layers. This allows different steels to contribute different properties to the finished blade, combining a hard edge with the toughness provided by the softer supporting layers. Dragon King applies that principle to the Baika Tanto using stainless steels, producing a san mai tanto blade with a listed hardness of approximately HRC 60 at the edge and HRC 40 at the back.

The blade is complemented by a 4 3/4 inch handle fully wrapped in genuine ray skin, leaving its natural nodes exposed to provide both texture and a firm grip. Gold plated oriole menuki and decorative accents are worked into the plum blossom motif, giving the piece an elegant contrast to the steel blade. Measuring approximately 15 1/8 inches overall and weighing only 12 ounces, the Baika Tanto combines unusual san mai steel construction, traditional Japanese influences and Frenchie Jin's distinctive Dragon King styling in a compact piece worthy of a Japanese sword collection.

Collect The Set

The gold saya and brown and gold sageo match beautifully and would make the Baika Tanto a great companion piece to the Tatsumaki Katana .