This is a 13 1/8″ blade with really nice horimono (engravings) down both sides. The ‘flame’ pattern hamon is finished in a sashikomi style. If you know anything about polishing you can appreciate what an incredibly difficult polish this is! The nugui used to bring up the sashikomi style hamon also likes to get trapped in every little groove and recess of the horimono. The particles then sneak out later to form scratches or streaks in the surface. The grit from the polishing stones does the same thing throughout the polishing process. Additionally every little bit of engraving has to be cleaned, polished and burnished.