How to choose your Weapon Engraving

Having one's name embroidered or engraved on one's equipment is common in Japan. Both can be directly added on the product page under "product customizations" before adding the item to your cart. Any non-standard engravings such as a logos or designs need to be discussed in advance.

Although less common than embroideries, it can be useful to add a mark on ones weapons to avoid any mix-up, especially in big Dojo or at crowded seminars. The carving is colorless and can be made in a discrete manner.

In Japan markings are made as a sign of modesty: You do not expect that teachers and fellow practitioners to remember your name, and having it written on your cloth simplifies the teacher's life. Hence, the content you choose for your embroidery and engraving is what you shall be called in Japan. In that sense, it is best to stick to your name, first or family name, whichever you prefer in that context.

The engravings are made with a French brand CO2 laser, especially designed for wood engravings. Specifically adjusted to avoid compromising the weapons' physical integrity, this laser is used for all wooden weapons. Engravings are performed about once a week and can delay the shipping by up to 10 days.

All engravings are available in Roman alphabet (English), in Katakana (Japanese phonetic transcription of the alphabet), in Hiragana (classic Japanese alphabet) and in Kanji (the famous Sino-Japanese complex characters). We offer free transcription of names, Dojo names, places and so forth.

For carvings in Japanese, you can upload a file with the corresponding characters.
For each weapon you can find several engraving tools: This allows to add more than one engraving to your weapon. Specify in the comment field which spot should feature which engraving.
Choice of character size: 7.5mm ~ 12 mm in diameter.

KuSakuraShop translates your name into Japanese for free. However, names can be transcribed in several ways, depending on which syllable is emphasized and even more important in what language it is pronounced. (Example: "Michael" pronounced in English or French have two totally different sounds!).
Our team speaks several languages and we offer official transcriptions whenever possible and common pronunciations transcription of the name according to the country of delivery of the order. You can add a comment for each engraving module to let us know about the pronunciation of your name if it is uncommon or complicated.

Furthermore, if you have a name translation from a previous purchase (made by KuSakuraShop or any other brand) and want the same, we strongly recommend to upload a picture, using the file upload feature in each engraving module. If no file was sent, we shall not accept any complaint concerning the transcription done by our services. Japanese is written in a combination of three alphabets and is really rich language.

The Katakana and the Hiragana that are phonetic alphabets and the Kanji, the semantic alphabet (the one best known in the West, derived from Chinese characters).
Finally, there is a method called Ateji to translate foreign names into Kanji characters. For the same name, there can be countless combinations, and the overall result is often rather confusing for anyone who can actually read Japanese. To avoid any misunderstanding, we do not offer this kind of translation.

Of course, you can also choose to simply have your name engraved using the Latin alphabet ("English" letters). It may look a bit less exotic but from a practical point of view it could be the best choice!

For the Latin alphabet, we offer 3 styles: Capital letters, lower case letters (both block type and both available horizontal or vertical) or cursive characters can be done in uppercase print (block), lowercase print (block) or cursive lettering (only exists with horizontal font.)

If you want a Japanese word e.g. Judo, or any other expression that exists in Japanese: no worries. In that case, you simply write "Judo" in English as engraving content and select a Japanese font. We will choose the right Kanji for you and engrave "柔道" (Judo).

The same applies for any other Japanese word: Write "Tiger", select any Japanese font and you will get "虎" (Tora/Tiger) on your weapon. Translations can get tricky if the context is missing, so please add an indication in the comment field so we can make the right decisions regarding the translation. And of course, upload a picture whenever possible. And if you want a rather complex expression, please contact us before placing your order to discuss the translation!

If you have a particular logo or design and want that as engraving on your weapons: We do offer that, too. However, the charges are relatively high as a graphic designers has to get involved to adjust the design so we can use it for engravings. In any way, you will have to contact us prior to placing your order so we can discuss the details and make a quote. Any requests or designs added to your order without prior agreement will be ignored.

• Graphic design fees: To adjust your logo, we have to charge between $10 - $40, depending on the complexity of the design. These fees have to be paid only once as we do keep these files for 10 years.
• Carving fees: Again, these depend on the size and complexity of the logo, but are usually between $15 - $30 per engraving.
• Delivery delay: The entire process will delay the shipping of the product by 1-2 weeks.