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無邪思 The phrase is usually written as 思無邪 (Omoi yokoshima nashi / Shi-mu-ya). That means “Thoughts without wickedness”.

Just One More!!!

In normal times the NTHK have at least one shinsa in the US, normally at the Florida sword show which is usually around this time of year. There may be individuals who are willing to look at your sword and give an opinion but the NBTHK and NTHK authentication papers are the gold standard (some would argue only NBTHK for high value swords) so having an opinion or paper by anyone else won't really carry any weight in the market but might give an indicator as to whether a sword is worth a polish and/ or going to the trouble of papering.

Just ordered from the above link - dirt cheap - thanks

Dear Robert. I think Piers' advice is good, you just need to weed out some of those. As a fellow collector I would be happy to ease your burden and take some of the less significant pieces away from you, provided that you will accept my advice on which ones to let go. Seriously a lovely selection and I would find it difficult to let any of them get away. To borrow a cycling aphorism, "The correct number of bikes you should own is the number you have now plus one." Enjoy! All the best.

Apart from the maths of 9x15, I am envious. You have kept your aim high. Some years ago I was going for quantity rather than quality, and took pleasure in counting them. Nuts. One day my Sensei had a quick flip through them. "Instead of buying ten @￥10,000 apiece, aim more to buy one decent tsuba for ￥100,000." he said.

Great collection! ... I don’t think I have any, at least none that counts and those are on swords. They are beautiful art pieces, but I’ve always felt that collecting them was like collecting the wheel of a car without the car if you get my meaning. Still many of those are outstanding!

Hello all, In case anyone was still concerned, I will certainly not be purchasing this blade. I will continue to save my extra income and keep an eye out for a good "next-step-up" blade of the sort I want. A warm thanks to everyone here who advised me on this matter.

Robert - Wow, Mittens looks like our tuxedo cat, Ridge. I hope Mittens has a good life whatever is remaining of it. We lost our previous cat, also a rescue, to cancer 2.5 years ago. It is always hard to loose a companion. My heart and Ridge's goes out to you and Mittens. Rich

Hi everyone, I wanted to give a quick introduction as this new dealer page is set up (and appreciation to Brian for creating this new area and all he does to manage this board). Some of you know me from discussions here on the NMB, as well as Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. I have been collecting and studying Japanese swords now for 32 years. As a collector, I primarily focus on koto blades (with a preference for Soshu and Yamashiro) but all time periods are interesting to me and one of the reasons that I branched out into sales is that I enjoy handling a large number of swords to research, study and learn from. My swords sales are almost exclusively consigned from other collectors (most from our community here), and I am happy to consider new pieces to receive for consignment. I also enjoy assisting with research & translation requests. I am no Markus Sesko, but I do my best. Here are a few links to my pages online. Website: http://www.swordsofjapan.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@swordsofjapan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swordsofjapan Please feel free to reach out any time there is something I can help with, either through NMB messenger or (preferred) by email at raymondsinger@gmail.com. Best regards, Ray

Hi, My name is Grey Doffin, I live in northern Minnesota, USA, and I have a website dedicated to Nihonto and books on the subject: https://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/ I've been studying Japanese swords for nearly 40 years now and buying/selling for most all of them (I'm trying to lose my 1st million). If you check my site today, in late 2020, you'll find a dozen or so swords and koshirae (with more to come soon), 150 to 200 sword fittings (tsuba, menuki, fuchi/kashira, etc), and a very large inventory of books on the subject. I try to have reasonable prices and items to fit a variety of budgets. I try also to be helpful. If you're just getting started with Nihonto feel free to ask questions about any of my pieces; I'll tell you what I think I know. This field can be daunting; there is so much to understand and ample opportunity to make mistakes. If you come to me with a question, I will answer honestly. Promise. Not sure what all I'll do with this space on NMB. As I get some time in the coming days I'll post highlights of some of the pieces on my site; beyond that we'll just have to wait and see. Feel free to post here also; your comments are welcome. If you want to contact me please use my email, not personal message on NMB. Email is easier and I can keep track of our correspondence in folders on my computer. Phone calls, if you live in The States, are fine also. Thanks for stopping, Grey grey@japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com 218-726-0395 central time

Hi Mike, I think the main bits are cherry bark (top two characters on the right) and tea caddy (cha zutsu) middle two characters on the left. I’m sure that the better linguists (or chado practitioners) will finesse this somewhat, but I hope that’s not too far adrift.

Stegel shared these other variations of the Mukden stamp on THIS WARRELICS POST. So, these stamps aren't the same, but it makes a point that they did have a small variety of stamps they went through. I'm reminded of the Toyokawa anchor that is in a circle on sword blades but in a sakura on dirks and other fittings. Maybe Mukden used a differing look on sword blades than they did on guns.

Robert Let us know how Mittens makes out at the vets. Hoping for the best. Rich

A picture is worth a thousand words. So I will say no more! See picture EBEFC4F6-A0ED-469F-A4EC-1521C9405178_1520120213480. Pawn Shop Find-Japanese WWI-WWII Parade Sword?

LOL Barry. Ive almost stepped on a few already and may have stepped on one with the pouch pin purchase

Looks like a funky sōsho rendition of 寿

無邪思 No Evil Thought

It would be interesting to attempt a classification of the various fakers and forgers of Mei out there. For example, to get the ball rolling, Unscrupulous merchants who work with untalented forgers who reckon that the presence of a Mei is better than none at all. Unscrupulous forgers, who have no scruples, even if they have talent in choosing a suitable blade, and cutting a Mei in the correct style. Scrupulous forgers who deliberately make one stroke 'wrong', to warn the wary but fool the unwary.

Hello Darius. Tuka-maki is a winding method called twist winding, which is common. The material of tuka-ito looks to me in mixed spun fabrics, which is lower grade than using silk. https://twitter.com/machida_77/status/1284754616979058688 At first glance, kashira looks like shibuich, which is an alloy of silver and copper, but copper is exposed in the worn part. Its design is similar to umetada, but unfortunately it has lost fuchi. Menuki is mizuchi (rain dragon) and the design does not match kashira. Tuka-same uses large, good quality shark skin from oya-tubu.

dont you dare slow down, what a collection of GOOD tsuba. just good, solid examples of good tsuba. something to be proud of, all the bases are covered. shakudo, suaka, shibuichi, iron plate, iron sukashi etc

I think that maybe it's time to slow down....

Nope. Just the shirasaya and box as shown above.

I almost agree with the opinion, but have couple of very personal arguments: Keicho or very close to it. Sugata is a bit atypical for anything typical. Hada is already quite dense, too dense for koto, either shinto or shinshinto is more likely. Hamon has a wide "base", it shows very little vertical variation except in the topmost portion and is very glassy in appearance. Hamon itself is very eclectic. Its a tid bit more nie based than expected from Bizen, odd-groupings of togari, some togari are sharper than typical Bizen choice, some togari are kind of gumone-like standing by themsleves, so it has a Mino feeling to it. At the same time very thin, slanted, sharp angled togari are definitely Bizen like. Such eclectics is more shinto than koto. I would bet its more masame based in shinogi ji, but that could be koto mino as well. I think its sugu boshi. Overall to me looks like very early shinto. Is it gimei? Can be, can be not. Its not outside the realm of possible later generation Kanemoto experimenting with something like that.

here ya go.Micah

thanks everyone for the additional tips! I bought "Lethal Elegance" by Joe Earle and have been studying it....

Hmmm, where is the BOOM! emoji. I love Jesse M's comment "So many landmines in this hobby!" Mate, you have not yet begun to collect!!! BaZZa.

Thanks Steve, Barry and Ray! So many landmines in this hobby!

Dear Chris. I would not be too quick to rush to kazu uchi mono, not all late Koto swords are such and though this has some small flaws that does not necessarily mean the same. As regards the kissaki given the look and measurements you supply it would not be ko kissaki but rather an extended chu kisssaki. This would fit with Jussi's suggestion. I confess that I cannot make out much of the boshi, what do you see there? All the best.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254830659390?ul_noapp=true IN full disclosure, these belong to a friend. I think he started the auction a bit too low, but -bills to pay- sort of thing. It might be a bargain for someone in the UK or Europe.

It's simple really....the lure of easy money or wealth is the basis for all con's and scams, it matters not the subject or item. Sunken treasure, lost gold mine, buried mason jar full of coins, helping out the poor Nigerian lad. etc., etc. Personally, I have found that nothing has any real value, until one has invested either sweat, time or love into it. I gave up any illusion of instant benefit, once I aged into an adult. Mark

Correct. It is common. Of course tas you will find healthier examples. Again, it is all in the price.

Robert, as a cat guy (I’m giving shelter and food to about 20 stray cats, all of them gathered when they were starving and sick), I can only wish my best to you and Mittens. Our little pets are often more human than other humans and I’ve lost so many over the years that I feel your pain. I hope Mittens recovers. Best to you and Mittens, JP

Tang from another sword with NO mekugi hole?Not likely.

One of the most often recommended NMB sellers anytime someone asks for a place to buy swords.

The Ito has been rewrapped on this, no doubt, very amateurish as well.

They were once actively made in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, "a city with cupola", needless to say, in the 20th century. I don't know where it is now. https://twitter.com/yakozen777/status/1215763627329773568

Yeah, I think that's called "Bubba-ayasugi"!

Bruce, In the first photo I love the finger-print looking jigane... BaZZa.

Thanks Bruce. I am in the Island of Chicago!