# Communities > Modern-era Swords and Collecting Community > Modern Production Katanas >  kamakura/koto katana

## Charlie H.

do any of you know if their is such a thing as a kamakura style production katana?....i like the koto period style blades but i'm not going to be able to buy a nihonto anytime soon,i thought there might be a forge i'm overlooking.

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## Gary S

> do any of you know if their is such a thing as a kamakura style production katana?....i like the koto period style blades but i'm not going to be able to buy a nihonto anytime soon,i thought there might be a forge i'm overlooking.


 If they still produce it, Bugei's Liondog katana is based on a Kamakura style blade.

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## Kimmo Silander

Bad thing is that Bugei's Liondog costs as much as low grade nihonto. On the plus side is that you get a tanto with similar koshirae also.

Roninswords Brian had his newest custom piece (azure dragon) with koshi sori, which is quite often seen in blades from kamakura period. I don't know what is the future of roninswords, but you might want to ask Brian about that type of blade.

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## Gary S

> Bad thing is that Bugei's Liondog costs as much as low grade nihonto. On the plus side is that you get a tanto with similar koshirae also.
> 
> Roninswords Brian had his newest custom piece (azure dragon) with koshi sori, which is quite often seen in blades from kamakura period. I don't know what is the future of roninswords, but you might want to ask Brian about that type of blade.


 Wow! I just checked the price on the Liondog. Definitely more than I would probably pay for a pair of production swords. However, They're the closet you're going to get (at least as far as I have seen) In the production world.
 The azure dragon is a nice enough sword, but koshizori notwithstanding doesn't look at all to me like a Kamakura era piece. The overall sugata has the same bland Shinto-ish shape as just about every other production sword.
Incidentally, if memory serves me right (and someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), koshizori is actually more a hallmark of Heian era blades. On Kamakura blades it more often means the blade has been shortened.
   The closest piece besides the liondog would probably be the LL Mikusa. Although they refer to them as "Keicho Shinto", the sori and fumbari seem more in line with a Kamakura era blade. 
  However, the LL fittings are, well, production sword fittings. One of the nice things about the Liondog is that it was designed fittings and all to fit the way a Kamakura era sword would look at the time the sword was made, rather than a cut-down, remounted piece. Hence the rather respectable price. Once again, more than _I_ would pay for a production sword, but when you consider that you're getting the full Daisho, kozuka, kogai and all; it's actually a fair price. An added plus is that the fittings were designed by someone with a wealth of experience handling genuine Nihonto.
   The other possibility you might consider is a custom sword. There is a sword here    
http://www.jswords.com/prodej-eng.php
that is selling for under 2k U.S. Some of his swords have a Kamakura style blade, although the fittings tend to be more Muromachi/Tensho.

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