Brian

I am always hesitant to make changes that affect others that aren't so..."oblivious" But seems something may need to be done in this case. Hmmm. A membership would at least have been appropriate a while ago. Especially considering the hosts just advised me now we are almost up to our 125 GIG allocation, and I'm going to have to buy more server space. Sigh. Still....125 Gigs of images here is quite something. Try publish THAT as a book

Because it's not a wartime blade, it's earlier and remounted, and guys are treasure hunting/hoping.

It's a Chinese fake, sorry. Inscription has no purpose. This is a bad one. Next one will be better

Marc, Probably best to post a pic so that guys don't have to go Google it.

Just a bump for this. Current high bid is Michael's at $600, still a steal for a nice WW2 sword.

Regular high grade isopropyl alcohol. Wipe as many times as necessary, then a light oiling on a soft cloth or tissue. Minimal is fine.

I have been getting some contact from members saying they are unable to access the forum the past few days. Oddly, some of these are via pm's, which mean the members were on the forum at the time. I also don't have an explanation of what exact problem they are having, but I'm looking into it. I think there may be some attacks on the server lately, flooding with hacking attempts...maybe DDOS or otherwise. But if anyone is experiancing issues and can describe exactly what the error is, it will help. I have no doubt it will be temporary, and we'll get it sorted. Just need to identify exactly where the issue lies.

Bruce, so far I have seen no stamps on it at all anywhere. I I have looked quite hard.

The Toshinaga is sold. The other 2 still available.

Thank you very much Moriyama san. Quick question, wouldn't Showa 23rd be 1948? Far too late for them to have been making military swords?

Man, I hate these "chippy" mei. Can anyone assist with this Type 3/Rinji Seishiki mei? On a Showato that just popped up here. Mei looks like Yoshitada or xx Tada? Thanks in advance.

Agree with Sam. Problem is I don't think there is much more that can be said from the pics. Looks very interesting, and worth getting in the hands of someone with experience. But looks like a potentially good sword.

I'm going to post the $550 bid from @Eds here. Link: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/54090-gunto-auction-for-the-benefit-of-the-forum

Yip. I'm going to lock this thread here so that replies are done at the link above. Many thanks guys.

For those who missed it, we are currently auctioning a nice "Type 3" Showato that was generously donated by a member anonymously, and @Scogg has been amazing in making the arrangements and assisting with this. Start price is a VERY low $500, so I would appreciate your support and any bids are really appreciated. A chance to get a nice military sword at a bargain price and support the forum at the same time. The link is here:

And yet another excellent article supplied and written by Malcolm E Cox in the downloads section. This one on sukashi iron tsuba, a nice primer on the subject for our tosogu fans. Thanks go out to @mecox yet again for his support and generocity.

Expired certificates on known websites really aren't too much of a risk. Just choose to proceed.

Thank you Chris!

Those uploads didn't work, try again or pm/email them to me to upload.

Looks like the nakago was scrubbed of anything that was there and a new mei added. Or a Komonjo special.

Assisting an old collector to sell his 3 papered swords that he has owned for while. He is not confident enough to do the listing and asked me to assist. He got into it during Covid, purchased them in 2021 and is no longer collecting. All 3 were imported from Japan, purchased from Samuraimuseum, with a lot invested in the shipping, vat, duties etc etc. He is in Basingstoke, and would prefer to keep the sale within the UK for now. All 3 in polish, and papered Toku Hozon. He has upgraded the fittings on some with papered tosogu, that were purchased from dealers, and had professional rewraps done on some. All the details are in the sales flyers below. If anyone has any interest, you can comment and I'll put you in touch. I am sure he's a little negotiable, but is already selling at quite a loss, so within reason. Izumi no Kami Rai Kinmichi - (Still as purchased) - £5,700 Mutsu no Kami Fujiwara Toshinaga - (Upgraded to papered tsuba and better tosogu and rewrap. Comes with the original tsuba) - £4,500 Tango no Kami Kanemichi - (With additional papered tsuba) This sword has a stunning sudare-ba hamon and lovely fittings - £8,800 See pics and details in the pdf's attached. Izumi no Kami Rai Kinmichi.pdf Mutsu no kami Fujiwara Toshinaga.pdf Tango no Kami Kanemichi.pdf

Thanks Michael, appreciate the support. Nice tsuba that should be worth several times the starting price. His work really does fetch good money out there. If I may make a suggestion for the auction, perhaps a link to his Katsuhira's Tiger Youtube video for those looking at the auction, to get an idea of what he was about and what he could do?

Thanks Chandler. Have added that one to the links list above.

I do that because true handmade swords can also be discussed in the Nihonto section since they do belong there too. As do military swords with older blades. It's worked ok for many years, I think we're good leaving it as is, and leaving the mods to make the call if something should be moved.

Did you not bother reading the post he just pointed you to? (Still waiting for that forum support/membership you said you'd be glad to do)