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Phil, Sorry, didn't read the whole of the thread so I must be a genius too. If it isn't a traditionally made/ ancestral blade then it has been dressed up to look like one so it's either a WW2 era blade that's been dicked with or it's a modern copy that has been made to deceive. Just to be clear, you have a tsuka (not necessarily belonging to the blade) and the blade with the habaki but no scabbard? Did you have it carbon dated too otherwise it's a bit of a leap of faith to conclude that the blade itself is WW2.

KAJ is an incredibly interesting and eccentric guy. Writes Sherlock Holmes fan fiction among his many other hobbies apparently.

Actually just read scholagladiatoria post on there. Unfortunately your original post stands.

Happen to have a link? That's nice to hear

They are the same as royal mail. But apparently antique will be exempt. They backtracked on this. Paul martin asked this on Facebook. Worth reading

Hello Giordy, Many thanks for all these information and for the blade in example

Actually Colin, they had power happers back in the day, this was one of the reasons that certain workshops were situated where they were, fast flowing rivers to power hammers. An abundance of trees for charcoal and of course iron was also usually required if possible. Nes jernverk in Tvedestrand in Norway still have trip hammers that date back to the 1600's, and these are still used every year in demonstrations.

Terrible news but it appears ParcelForce is also prohibiting blades starting May 7th https://www.parcelfo...ons-and-restrictions

I absolutely agree Colin. There are exceptional craftsmen, and then there are the truly exceptional craftsmen, those with that little extra, divine gift if you will. The Negroli brothers were certainly amongst the latter. The thing that astounds me,with Japanese craftsmen was their ability to cut extremely fine cuts in metal, Today, we have piercing saw blades that will do it, but what did they use in the 15th and 16th century? What, how? What is so astounding with the Negroli, as evidenced here, is not only their absolute mastery over their tools and materials, but thei exquisite mastery of form. Note the way the muscles of Medusa show at the sides, and the delicate way that the breasts on the upturned figure hang slightly inverted. It is absolutely exquisite workmanship, on all levels.

Well, I resorted to buying 2 sets of the same menuki to fit my katana and wakizashi, but by principle they are a set with the same thing just in different configurations (at least the ones I've seen).

This one was first registered in 1957, and then re-registered in 1989, it even had the ser# written on the paper.

Well， this one registered in 2022.

Actually there is something else to say. Imo ability like that cannot be fully taught. At that level it is a gift, a talent that is so rare. A bit like the difference between a good Japanese smith and a genius smith. Something indefinable that sets them apart and no matter how they try, few pupils can ever match them. It is true genius….almost mystical. I often look at the best Japanese metalwork and think, how the hell did they do that?

Truly mind boggling. What else can you say?

The thing that amazes me Colin, is the skill with which the armourers of old managed to make such compound shapes, which today, while difficult enough to do in the traditional manner, are cosiderably easier given the homogenous state of modern smelted and rolled metals, ie. no slag inclusions. Some recent studies in armour metalurgy, have shown some armour ranges from almost pure iron to high carbon steel in just a few centimetres. This must have made forging plates extremely difficult, and the hardening process, where used, perhaps even more so. A true tour de force, made in 1543 by Filipo Negroli of Milan. This is all one piece of metal! Such superb mastery of his material is simply breathtaking. Perhaps the nearest in Japanese metalworking was Myochin Muneakira, who is known to have made somen in one piece! He was extremely adept at repousé.

It's been fully polished with a fake hamon, to be able to get a torokusho. Don't think the Prefectural Education Board cares too much as long as there is plausible deniability.

Type (Tachi, Katana, Wakizashi, Tanto, Naginata, Other) : Katana Mei : (Mumei, Signature) : Mumei Papered or not and by whom? : Not Papered Era/Age : Shinto Era Shirasaya, Koshirae or Bare Blade? : Koshirae Nagasa/Blade Length : 74.1 cm Sori : 1.4 cm Hamon Type : Choji Midare Flaws : small kizu shown in images Sword Location : United States Price and Currency : $3,500 Other Info and Full Description : Hello All, We have a Shinto Era Ishido School Katana in koshirae for sale. The fuchi and kashira are a half anjiro half rough texture with stylized gosan kirimon. The menuki appear to be flowers. Habaki is silver with kamon. Includes Rokusho kogai as well. Saya is black with gold flakes speckled all down the length. You can find more pictures that were too big to upload on through my website atagoantiques.com. Please feel free to PM me with any questions. Thanks, Atago

Ko-Tosho for Sale -Ubu, late Nambokuchu to early Muromachi- $800 8.07cm x 7.7cm (3.9mm seppa dai vs 3.7mm) Oldest iron tsuba I have ever owned. Very nice seppa sukuri wear on the seppa dai, from a long time mounting. Excellent condition, color of an old sword nakago, and a sea of age evident when you view it in different lighting. Fitted raised box too. Curran

Russ, I love just about anything well hammered from iron…..your pieces are beautiful. There is something undefinably powerful hidden within. Heat, flames, sparks, noise……..apart from power hammers I guess not much has changed for hundreds of years?

I've never seen a type 95 with hadori like that either. Also, the kissaki and yakote look nicer / more precise than other 95's i've seen... Granted, I've not seen everything. It's Interesting! Looking forward to what others have to say. -Sam

I have spent some time in the workshops at the Tower of London. A wonderful experience for anybody remotely interested in armour. Ted smith (The head armourer there at the time) kindly showed me on one occasion a beautiful pair of mitten gauntlets, and a superb locking gauntlet.........................all of which just happened to have belonged to King Henry VIII ! The workshops at The Tower of London were in the same building as the New Armouries, that housed the Japanese and oriental collections. As you say, some of the tools are believed to have come from the Royal Workshops at Greenwich.

Japan auction. Type95 with registration paper. We see some Type95 over the time in Japanese auctions. But this is the first one i see with a new registration paper. Did something changed in the law?

attendees -- please stop by and say hello to Grey and myself. We will have some special items for sale this year: Heian, Kamakura, Nambokucho, efu Tachi, Juyo, lots and lots of treasures. see you soon mark

Here a good example to compare: Signature: we've already discussed this extensively, I'll just point out how the "Kami" character is significantly different from your blade, "the hat" is wider and more uniform with a less pronounced curve and on both sides the strokes tend to be inclined and not straight (As all other examples), some variations are however present in this signature. Sugata: the blade has slight sori and taper from the monouchi area, your blade is more curved without taper, also note the high mune. From Sesko kantei:"At Sukehiro and his students for example, the shinogi is usually extremely low so that it sometimes even seems optically as if the blade thins from the mune to the shinogi. Hamon: From the photos I don't see notare elements but a variation in height is clearly visible

Rewrite 戸石合戦 (Toishi kassen) - The battle of Toishi - [村上義清 (Murakami Yoshikiyo) vs. 武田信玄 (Takeda Shingen), ca. 1550] 内藤 (Naito) - family name? 人馬トモ切落 (Jinba tomo (ni) kiri-otosu) - Cut off both man and horse. 光元 (Mitsumoto) Note; Imformation from morita san included