What is this?

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by jmings

Thank you all for your information. I guess the joke's on me.
All of my other swords were attracted to a magnet, puting the lie to the old myth that a magnet wouldn't stick to stainless so it never occured to me to try it even though I was suspicious of the brightness of the blade. Sure enough <smacks forehead> it is about as attracted to a magnet as a frog of the amphibous persuasion. Now it can join my "Ninja Sword Set" in hiding.

For Sale
Genuine counterfit Chinese imitation japanese tanto. Contact Owa Tanna Siam.

Don't feel so bad, Jerry. That knife happens to appeal to my personal aesthetic quite nicely. It is what it is, and would probably wind up on my desk as a letter opener or paperweight.

The blade looks like the zinc alloy commonly seen on iaito (and, of course, many of the decorative Japanese-style swords sold in mall cutlery stores across the US).