What Is the Kissaki? 切先 — The Katana Point Explained

The kissaki (切先) is the pointed tip section of a Japanese sword — the hardened area beyond the yokote line that forms the blade's business end and its own miniature tempered point. It is the small triangular zone at the very tip, bounded at its base by a distinct crosswise ridge called the yokote (横手), and it carries its own curved temper line, the boshi (帽子). Far from a minor detail, the kissaki is one of the first things an experienced eye examines: its size, shape, and the way it terminates tell you the era of the blade, the health of its polish, and whether it has survived intact.

For a buyer, the kissaki is where condition and authenticity meet. A tired, reshaped, or repaired tip can quietly destroy the value of an otherwise fine sword, and a boshi that runs off the edge is a warning sign no amount of surface polish can hide. Learning to read the kissaki is fundamental to judging any nihonto.

The anatomy of the kissaki

The kissaki begins at the yokote (横手) — the sharp, perpendicular line that separates the point from the rest of the blade. On a properly polished blade the yokote is crisp and dead straight; a blurred or missing yokote usually means an amateur or worn-out polish. Within the kissaki are two further ridges: the ko-shinogi (小鎬), a continuation of the main ridge line, and the fukura, the curved arc of the cutting edge inside the point.

The fukura — the curvature of the edge within the tip — is a key descriptor. A full, rounded fukura (fukura tsuku) is generally healthy and strong; a starved, flattened fukura (fukura kareru) often signals a tip that has lost steel to repeated polishing or a bad repair.

Types of kissaki and what they date

The proportions of the kissaki are one of the most reliable dating tools in kantei, because their fashion changed sharply from era to era:

  • Ko-kissaki (小切先) — a small, short point typical of early Heian and Kamakura tachi. Elegant and compact, it signals genuine age when paired with the right sugata.
  • Chu-kissaki (中切先) — the medium, balanced point that became the standard from the mid-Kamakura period onward and remains the most common form on katana.
  • O-kissaki (大切先) — a long, large point associated with the Nanbokucho period (14th century), when grand, dramatic blades were in fashion, and later revived by Shinshinto smiths imitating that era.
  • Ikubi-kissaki (猪首切先) — a stubby, "boar's neck" point, short and thick, characteristic of the powerful mid-Kamakura style.

Why the kissaki matters to a buyer

The kissaki is the hardest part of the blade to polish and the easiest to ruin. Because the point carries its own tempered edge, a polisher must maintain the yokote, the ko-shinogi, and the boshi all at once — a task only a trained togishi should attempt. A kissaki that has been reground by an amateur, or a blade whose tip was broken and reshaped (saki-naoshi), loses both integrity and value.

The most serious defect is a boshi that runs out of temper at the very tip — meaning the hardened edge has been polished away or was lost to damage. This is often unrepairable and severely reduces a sword's worth, which is exactly why serious collectors inspect the kissaki and its boshi (帽子) before anything else. When judging overall blade shape and proportion, the kissaki is read together with the sugata (姿), the sword's total silhouette.

Frequently asked questions

What is the kissaki of a katana?

The kissaki is the pointed tip section of the blade, beyond the yokote line, that forms the sword's point. It contains its own hardened cutting edge and its own temper line, the boshi, making it a self-contained functional and artistic unit at the end of the blade.

How does the kissaki help date a Japanese sword?

The size and shape of the kissaki changed with fashion across the centuries, so it is a strong dating clue. Small ko-kissaki point to early Kamakura work, medium chu-kissaki to the classic katana era, and long o-kissaki to the Nanbokucho period of the 14th century.

What is a healthy kissaki and why does it matter?

A healthy kissaki has a crisp yokote, a full rounded fukura, and a boshi that turns back cleanly without running off the edge. A tired or reshaped tip — or a boshi that has lost its temper — signals damage or over-polishing and can sharply reduce a sword's value.

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