Musashi Asuka Aikuchi

One of the aikuchi from musashi
Hand forged aikuchi made with high tempered carbon steel, throughly tempered then water quenched for a consistent hardness. Wood saya with lacquered finish. The handle is has authentic rayskin covered in a cotton cord wrap. Comes complete with display box and certificate of authenticity. Overall length is 45 cm.

Aikuchi (knife without a guard)
The aikuchi is a form of mounting for Japanese blades in which the handle and the scabbard meet without a guard in between. Originally used on the koshigatana (a precursor to the wakizashi) to facilitate close wearing with armor, it became a fashionable upper-class mounting style for tantō (daggers) in the Edo period. Small aikuchi tanto known as kaiken became popular with the Yakuza, as they were easy to conceal; however, the most typical user of kaiken were women samurai from the Edo period onwards, who kept it as an emergency and/or suicide weapon.