Japanese Art Sword Finish Polishing
Keisho & Sashikomi
www.swordpolish.com
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There are 2 types of finish polish that can be applied to the hamon (temper line) of a Japanese sword, KEISHO (pictured left and above) and SASHIKOMI (pictured right). Keisho translates as "made up" and involves taking a stone called hadori and whitening the area that makes up the shape of the hamon. Sashikomi is an older natural style of polish that uses special tsuya stones and nugui to make the hamon stand out on its own without additional stone work. When to choose keisho. A keisho finish can be applied to almost any sword. Some people do not like keisho because when it is done too heavily it hides the details of the hamon, but when it is done well it actually enhances the visibility of the crystalline structures. I always strive to do a light keisho that evokes the natural beauty and features of the hamon as pictured at the top of the page. Keisho is the only type of finish done in Japan today. Virtually all swords seen in fine sword books have a keisho finish. As a general rule a modern polish should be done in keisho style. If you are planning to submit a blade for shinsa it should have a keisho finish. There are a few occasions where a sashikomi finish is appropriate. If the blade has a hamon that is a very light and wispy nioi deki, sashikomi may be preferable as a keisho polish may wash out the details. If the blade has a hamon such as sanbon-sugi or some togari-ba, a sashikomi finish may also be preferable. This is because the hamon consisting of many narrow, high, widely separated peaks, may not fit well into a keisho wave form as pictured bellow. Hitatsura blades are usually done in sashikomi style as there is no discrete area to apply hadori stones. There are cases where sashikomi can not be done. Some blades have a very hard hamon and some have an incomplete hamon. When the hamon is very hard it will not look whitish, but will look rather shiney and mirror like. This is completely inappropriate. If the hamon is incomplete it will not show up at all with sashikomi style finish. Hadori stones, which are more aggressive than other tsuya stones, can easily take the shine off even the hardest hamon or fill in gaps in an incomplete hamon. In the case of a blade with a very hard hamon or broken hamon, keisho is mandatory. |
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