Hanwei - Japanese Weapons

Sword Replicas - Japanese Swords and Weapons by Paul Chen

A Japanese sword is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. These are categorized in several types according to size and method of manufacture. The most commonly known type is the katana, which, like the similarly formed tachi, is a single-edged and, usually, curved long sword which was traditionally used by samurai from the 1400s onwards; Wakizashi is the shorter sword; Tsurugi are double-edged long swords; Ôtachi or Nodachi are older but longer single-edged versions.

Although they are pole-mounted weapons the Naginata and Yari, due to the methods by which they are forged, are still considered part of the Nihonto family.

Japanese swords are still commonly seen; antique and modernly-forged swords can easily be found and purchased.

Our Hanwei Japanese Weapons collection offers amazing replica models at an attainable price. These items will be a perfect complement to your home or theater collection.

Hanwei is a premier sword manufacturer, operated by Chen Chao-Po, better known by his pseudonym Paul Chen.

Chen is a Taiwanese sword collector who in ca. 1997 opened a factory in Manchuria manufacturing inexpensive replicas of Edo period Japanese swords. The manufacturing process imitates methods of traditional Japanese swordsmiths, for a fraction of the price. Hanwei enjoyed considerable success among hobbyists (e.g. practitioners of Iaido) due to the prohibitive pricetag of "real" Japanese shinken and has moved into manufacturing models of European swords as well, including typical specimens of a Viking sword, a knightly sword and a hand-and-a-half sword.