Anthony DiCristofano began the path to forged Japanese-style swords after his first trip to Japan in 1993. His journey began with his study of Japanese language and culture, which in turn deepened his interest in both the culture and the sword – he discovered, as he learned more, that the two are deeply intertwined. Anthony has been slowly and methodically developing his skills, carefully emulating this traditional Japanese art form. He continues to focus on mastering the skills necessary to make a Bizen-style choji midare hamon, and is experimenting with traditional Japanese steel to produce a rich and beautiful jigane, similar to what is seen in traditional koto period swords.

DiCristofano employs traditional methods and traditional materials which are rarely, if ever, used outside of Japan. This adds a great amount of labor as well as cost, but he feels that these materials and methods impart special qualities and characteristics to a sword which are not possible to obtain by using any shortcuts or so-called improved modern methods. Because he is intereste in creating a Japanese-style sword, he feels that using any other methods would appear to be a futile effort.

In 2005, Anthony traveled to Japan to visit a prominent swordsmith in order to observe and learn traditional Japanese foundation forging and to study and understand the process of making tamahagane. In the same year, he was honored to have one of his Katana exhibited in the Macau Museum of Art. In 2007, he received mentoring and guidance from renowned sword expert Leon Kapp, who renewed his interest and work with Bizen style swords. In 2007 and 2008, Anthony began working with Master Smith Yoshindo Yoshihara. DiCristofano is honored to have a tanto dedicated to the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America, located outside of Seattle, WA.