waljamada

I watched this one too. Couldn't help it. The aoi mon did look really well done but the quality of both horimono seemed lacking to me. I didn't have enough faith to go that strong on it and honestly thought it might end at the 431k yen price. Checked back earlier today and just thought if I did decide to go for it I would have been blown out the water.

Really neat blade and you got it for a good price! Great shape, cool double bohi and looks to have some good size to it. Early 1900s blade so still has arund 100 years of age to it. Esthetically it's the kind of blade I love! Congrats! Side note but kind of proud of myself because when looking it over, the mei, nakago etc...I thought it was maybe late late 1800s to early 1900s and then Google Taisho era and discover my eye was right-ish.

A seller with 0 feedback selling swords always sends my spidey sense off.

My favorite kind of blade. It just creates dimension and class to a blade but still has an imposing aesthetic. A naginata-hi especially on a katana length blade is just cool imo. Nice pick up! I would also agree it looks shin-shinto to me.

Hi Robin, he is open to any ww2 mounted katana in relatively good condition. I gave him a little nihonto tour to show him examples and point stuff out but in terms of purchasing his first blade he really doesn't have a preference on the details. I feel that it would be smarter in his budget to buy a better condition showato than a really rough gendaito for example. So I'm trying to help see what may be out there for him in a treacherous budget range. I also asked him just to text me any sword he finds that tempt him to buy. Also suggested he keep saving and go to the Chicago Sword Show with the money. So we'll see what happens and what he decides in the meantime.

I think with the shipping it will total $100 donation to the new guy. =|:^)

Hey All, Met this gentleman who starting working the front desk at my office. His sister worked here before him and mentioned to him how I'm into swords. So a week or so ago he brought up how he just bought a mall ninja katana but would love to get a real piece to care for/display and just get into the hobby. So I would like to help guide him with his first purchase and figured I should at least see if someone here has an option for him. His budget is around $850 (I would pay $50 myself to bring his budget to $900 and pay for his shipping etc...to help out a bit) and wanted to see if someone here may have a gunto without too many issues for this new young collector start his nihonto journey. He'd be fine with any gunto type but did mention he loved the look of the type 98s. See picture below of Jacob a.ka. the new collector. I also invited him to go to the Chicago Sword Show with me and brought him a bunch of my swords to check out. I feel partially responsible for him now...

One starter is join some nihonto groups on Facebook. You are gonna have to watch what comes up and keep your eye out and in the meantime look at swords/discussions that are posted and study them a bit. Someone here may have something that could work so post on the "Wanted to Buy" section on this website, give a general description of things such as "a blade with some age", stay open minded and give a budget. The answer to your budget question is more personal and its what you can afford or are willing to spend. I do suggest as a general rule to never go into bad debt to purchase a sword. Lastly you can get a wakizashi which is a shorter blade (say under 24" cutting edge) for cheaper than a katana length. So I would say that a better condition wakizashi would be preferable than a rough shape katana at the same price. Also in general I do suggest it is worth it to spend a bit more to get something in better condition so you can really see what it's all about and take a deeper note of things to appreciate. Nothing like a solid example in had to study/learn/inspire. My first blade had issues but also had enough nice things about it to get me excited, then curious...then hooked.

Hi and welcome, the blade you have is not a Japanese blade or classified as nihonto. It is a manufactured Chinese made blade that often have those number stamps on the habaki, that same steel pattern and koshirae which is all the pieces together besides the blade such as the guard, handle and scabbard etc..

@Bruce Pennington You're work received a shout out! Check out this video at about the 17 minute mark.

Neil, I also pieced together a sound system of an old record player, amp, receiver and speakers to play vinyl....plus cat. My speaker placement isn't any good but overall it's actually quite a good sounding system.

Peter, Yeah, this blade is honestly a beautiful piece. It stands out from others I have in my collection and seen through my little window into nihonto. It's also my only blade that has what I'd consider a very skillful art polish. For me it was great to get because it let me see what a blade with no flaws, skillful smithing execution across the board, dense hada and an expert polish really look like in hand.

Matt, Thank you, I hadn't seen that sword! It's really great seeing what seems a sister sword to mine in sashikomi polish so I can see the hamon details. So far the smith is 2 for 2 on reaching toku hozon. Little different arrangement of mei kanji on that one since he looks like he ran out of room at the end of his mei on mine.

Resurrecting this to see if anyone has any information on this smith? I have been completely unable to find any additional information on him. I also haven't been able to find other blades by this smith. Have two different names for the smith Ive gotten: Bitchu no Kuni Matsuyama ju Akamatsu Kotobuki Minamoto Ujisada Saku 備中國松山住赤松壽源氏貞 bitchu kuni matsuyama ju akamatsu jugen ujisada

The best thing I've found is actually this Japanese hammer and leverage device thingy tool (sorry forgot the proper name) that they sell to remove tight tsukas etc...it works just as well on habaki. I believe Grey had some for sale at some point. It's useful to have around for many reasons.