Who We Are

Founded by two individuals sharing a common bond-the Japanese sword-Ashigaru Armory was born from nothing but an idea and a conversation.

Christopher Goodall, Proprietor, Arizona, United States

Christopher Goodall grew up reading tales of the Samurai, those of honor and loyalty. Growing up in the 80's didn't hurt either with a steady supply of action films. Fast forward to later in life and he was able to enroll in a Kenjutsu school which was a life altering event. This solidified him as a student of the sword and all that it entails. Initially, for someone on a moderate budget, purchasing a nihonto suitable for Kenjutsu or Iaido was extremely difficult to accomplish. This lead to heavy use of reproduction swords, or potential students simply not returning to class. Christopher stepped back and looked at the bulk of the nihonto offered on the domestic market, much of them being collectors grade. This kept price high and likelihood of using one in class, low...this is where and idea was born and a conversation with a future partner began...

Satoshi Takashima, Procurement and Logistics, Japan

Satoshi has also had a fondness for the Samurai age and history, in a time and a place that is largely moving to forget the past. With the younger generations having less interest in the past, families are often turning to selling what were once heirlooms as there is no interest in preservation. Swords are often neglected, treated as a relic of the past. Satoshi saw opportunities and established Katte-ya, and nihonto/japanese culture based antique shop. Through this endeavor he started to immerse himself in the history and allure of these items. It was through his shop, that Christopher purchased a FuchiKashira set, which lead to the conversation that brings us here today...

Ashigaru Armory LLC

We found something unique-that there was a plentiful supply of somewhat neglected nihonto out there that your average collector would quickly turn away from-but that your average martial arts practitioner would be thankful to have. The next challenge was making it as affordable as possible. Many people's first swords come from places like eBay...while there can be good product, there is also a lot of fake or misrepresented product. In addition, pricing is artificially inflated to account for sellers fees-so by the time it makes it to market-the affordability issue rears its ugly head again. Christopher and Satoshi's West meets East partnership allows up to cut out multiple stages of markup, allowing us to bring these items to you as affordably as is reasonably possible. In addition, as students of time long forgotten, we aim to provide a different level of interaction and service to our customers, a throwback to times past when care was placed on every purchase experience, rapport was built with customers ensuring long lasting relationships. So things may feel a little different working with us, and we completely okay with that!