Hamon

Coarse, rough nie particles; large martensite crystals visible as bright points in the hamon.

Hailstone pattern; small round nie formations in the hamon resembling hail.

Storm-like ground texture; turbulent, swirling patterns in the ji-hada steel grain.

Legs; short lines extending from the hamon toward the edge.

The side or area where ashi (legs) extend from the hamon toward the cutting edge (ha).

Guard duty temper; a type of hamon pattern associated with practical military blades.

"Tone" or "manner"; a suffix meaning based on or tending toward the named form, as in suguha-chō (a temper based on suguha with slight variation) or notare-chō. (In place names -chō is a different word, 町, "town" or "ward".)

Clove-shaped pattern resembling the clove spice bud.

Ashi (legs) extending from a choji (clove-shaped) hamon toward the cutting edge.

Clove-shaped hamon pattern with rounded protrusions resembling clove buds.

Having a touch of chōji; a temper (usually gunome or ko-midare) mixed with a slight chōji feel.

Irregular clove pattern.