Brian

This is the first I have heard of it, but my best wishes go out to all our Italian friends and members, and hope they will update us soon. Brian

Thanks Markus, I must have looked up the wrong Tomonori in Haynes. Brian

Colin, If I have the right guy, then he worked around mid 1800's in Hagi, Choshu province. Don't have much more than that. Brian

Thanks for the reminder. Already spotted and outed. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3262 viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2353 A search of the forum for their name will usually tell a lot about any dealer. The guys who own the pics should complain to their hosts (do a whois search) and have them banned. Brian

Can't read the second kanji of the name, but the signature and workmanship look perfectly in line with Choshu work to me. It would be an expensive tsuba to fake and doesn't look cast. I don't see much reason to think it is anything else but an antique Choshu tsuba signed by a Tomo-X (Names starting with Tomo are a common Choshu name) Maybe I am wrong, but looks like a nice tsuba to me. Brian

Hi Ford, Great work again, I am sure the new owner will love them. It is also very nice to be able to watch the process step by step as they are made the traditional way. Gives you new insight into these craftsmen. Can see why they are valued as they are nowdays. John, I think the matching tsuba is one on Ford's page here: http://picasaweb.google.com/tsubaman/MyTsuba# Ford, which of those listed are still for sale? I am sure anyone who is contemplating purchasing one might also be interested in commissioning a matching set of f/k / menuki to go with it. Would also suit a shinsakuto wonderfully. The ones that still have prices are still available? Brian

Here is one that appears to have had a stamp removed and has sunagashi, ji nie, inazuma and much chikei in the ji. Could be a mill steel semi-Gendaito or maybe they are mistaken about the stamp? Brian Note - There also appears to be a smaller version of the Seki stamp that is sometimes used in conjunction with the star stamp. This may be the Seki Token Corporation's trademark or accepting stamp as described here: http://www.nihontocraft.com/Kanehide.html and is not to be confused with the regular Seki stamp.

Yep..I agree with everything you wrote Clive, except a bit of confusion about no Gendaito having Showa or Seki stamps. I was always under that same impression, but every time I felt certain that all are Showato, someone popped up and showed a blade they were confident was Gendaito and had a Showa stamp. Seeing as these were military acceptance stamps, I assume it is possible that some hand forged blades went for the military stamping before being issued, but I still lean towards your viewpoint. I know for the fact that there are many papered blades in Japan that show signs of a stamp having been removed. Even Aoi has listed a few before. Whether they fall under the category of 'mill steel' quasi-gendaito or otherwise aren't fully made of tamahagane...that is the big question I suppose. A sword can be not made from tamahagane and still show hada and hataraki, so that would explain why some have received torokusho in Japan, where they can sometimes overlook this. Ryujin Swords has a write up on one here: http://www.ryujinswords.com/kanezane.htm There is also an interesting article at http://www.ryujinswords.com/shostamp.htm where he talks about the various types of construction and stamps. It seems to me that the presence of a stamp does show that it isn't true Nihonto though. Maybe forged and folded from Swedish steel railway tracks and water quenched? Of course most are indeed just machine made bar stock and oil quenched Showato. None of this is refering to this particular blade though..I am just talking in the general sense. The Seki forges comments I made are also just for the interest, and do not relate to this particular blade. As Clive pointed out, it wouldn't be considered Nihonto and of course any sword with a Showa or Seki stamp is illegal in Japan and will not be allowed to enter the country. I would be interested in any other examples of swords with stamps that do not appear oil quenched and have hada and nie/nioi and hataraki. Brian Edit to add: Apologies, it was not F&G where I was recently reading the excellent article about Seki during WW2. I cannot seem to remember where I read it now. Does anyone have any idea? The story was about a collector who was able to contact the maker of his sword over a period of a few years long after the war, and learned a lot about how things worked in Sseki during the war, and how there were many backyard forges where people were all working on swords for the war effort. Just an interesting read. Anyone remember where this write-up was?

Clive, Is this based on the Seki arsenal stamp? I know there have been cases of Showa-stamped blades being Gendaito, but not sure if this is the case with the Seki stamp. I was reading F&G again, and very interesting when they discussed Seki during WW2 and spoke to a smith who worked there. It wasn't an arsenal as such, it was a large amount of small smiths all through the town, making swords and submitting them for the war effort. I will have to read again and post the excerpt. Brian

I have always encouraged debate. But always emphasize polite and courteous debate. Confrontation is usually based more on personal feelings or outside influences. If people want to challenge a point made, it is simple to say "I don't agree..and here's why...." However people are too quick to get confrontational and take things personally. Which is strange given that many of us are a few thousand miles away from the other person, and they really don't have much of an influence in our real lives. Bit too wrapped up in the internet maybe? There is a whole real world out there. What I often do on the other forums I participate in, is to write a reply...then before I submit it, I take 5 minutes and read through it again. I have lost count of the number of times I have realised that what I wrote is phrased badly or rudely, and have deleted or re-written it. Just a friendly tip..use it or not. Brian

Mariusz, Thread hijacking is a common and accepted term used on forums when someone takes the subject completely away from the original theme to their own agenda. There are unwritten rules on forums that this is disrespectful to the original poster, and unless they consent, it is frowned upon. Not just here, but on all forums. If the topic relates to the original one, then it is sometimes overlooked, but the "natural flow of thoughts" has its limits. An example would be if the thread now continues on the subject of thread hijacking...you would then have hijacked this one. :lol: Brian

I like what you wrote John. I will leave this up for a bit, so that people who wish to, can have their say. I tend to feel that 99% of the people here have no real issues, and understand that things get awkward at times, but those very few times are usually far blown out of proportion. In the grand scheme of things, this subject is bigger than any of us, and a very few incidents really aren't as serious as anyone would like to make out they are. I have seen smaller (and bigger) forums have far more issues than we do, and I think that comparatively speaking, we do quite well for outsiders in a subject that was never intended for the Western way of thinking. Brian

So from the middle stages of the polishing process, and in most out of polish blades, are we seeing the hamon like we usually call it, or are we seeing the yakiba? An amateur polish might show the hardened steel as a nice contrasting band, but is it showing the actual hamon? Yes, we probably use the term wrongly all the time, however most of us know what we really mean. Add it to the list along with Showato,Gendaito and all the other terms that aren't strictly speaking used correctly. Brian

Without this becoming an argument, how about a civil discussion on the subject of hamon vs yakiba? This all comes down to the actual definitions again. What we often call the hamon is actually the yakiba. Who wants to clarify for everyone without this becoming an argument? We would need to define nioi guchi also. Brian

Please sign all posts with a name and initial. ALL posts. Thanks. That is a good starter book, but probably the best single book to start off with is the The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords by Nakayama Kokan. Not too expensive and available everywhere. Another good list with pics: http://www.nihonto.de/Books.html Brian

When are people going to realise that they are allowed opinions here? I'm not going to ban anyone for having an opinion, however that leeway only extends while they are polite and civil. Everyone has a rant now and then, it is after the second or third rant that I get tired and consider using "that" button. That being said...I think you have a few good points...but a lot of incorrect ones. For a free forum doing what few out there are doing, I don't think we do too badly at all. Ppl pay for some of this info. I challenge you to show me other sites that give translations as freely as we do. I also challenge you to find a better source of free oshigata, mei, book extracts and pictures of swords and tosogu. And all for the price of what? Nothing except the time and effort of some of the people you are criticising. You state "There is almost as much BS being spread as real information here of late" and I frankly challenge that opinion. We are studying art, and if you think that is going to go smoothly and without conflict ever, then i think you obviously have access to some INTERNET 3.0 that we don't have access to. It goes the way it does. We do our best, but with a medium that was never intended for this field. Ideally...Nihonto should NOT be studied online. That is a fact. However this is a good second best that allows people with common interests to come together, and at the very least meet people with similar interests and perhaps indulge in some trading and get to know the people they are dealing with. If good info is the by-product, then we are lucky indeed. You also state "Even many of the informative posts are simple rehashing of widely-available knowledge." and i don't think I will even bother going into that, as I am not sure exactly what you expect from an internet forum. You want us to go to a small and exclusive advanced band of collectors that all agree with each other and make this by invite only? That way no-one disagrees with anyone, and we can all make up theories and have no-one challenge them. It would certainly be easier, but by no means more helpful to all the newcomers out there. No...as long as people ignore the advice of buying books and studying before purchasing, we will be here to try and change their minds and try and help them. Some of them will be the future of collecting. Maybe one or 2 will be the ones that write the future books on subjects that we have covered even slightly. But expecting groundbreaking info to come out on an internet forum that the Japanese experts have somehow missed the past 800 years is just not going to happen. So if that means we re-hash the info out there, then so be it. I have a lot of books...but learn new things here daily. If some don't...then why bother reading this forum? I'm too tired to go into this more right now. I am sure others will have their say. In the interests of keeping this on topic, I'll let this run until ppl have had their say (again) and then prune the thread in a day or 2. Gotta wonder what is gained by these post though. I often wonder if people spent as much time and effort on studying Nihonto as they do on their own particular personality clashes here..how much more advanced would they be in their studies? Would have been far simpler to just say "I respectfully disagree with your post, in that I can clearly see the hamon in pic xxxx" and then let the debate evolve civily. But I guess that doesn't get the axe ground, does it? Brian

Machine made or partly machine made swords are illegal in Japan, cannot be owned there, and cannot receive papers. That includes most WW2 swords. The exception is good Gendaito that are traditionally forged and folded and water quenched. They will receive papers from time to time. These include swords like Yasukunito, and from smiths that did Gendaito such as Emura and Nagamitu. But the standard rules apply, and the swords have to be in good condition and made from tamahagane without doubt...showing hamon and hada. Brian

Mike, That is a rather odd and jaded comment to make? Care to explain what you mean by that? Seems to me that most of these events are far more about swords and not so much about the money, based on the time, effort and work involved. Brian

Chris, It's not a saleable compound as such, John is making a joke in that regard. It is the full re-patination process that Ford puts them through. The tsuba would have to be sent to Ford, and he could quote on the restoration. Judging by the outcome of the last few that were posted here, the end result is amazing though, and more in line with how it looked like originally. There is a fine line between tasteful restoration and overdone repatination, and that's why these are best left to the experts like Ford who know how to, and don't cross that line. Brian

Yep John, you got it. Sukashi style, with only the outline and the stems depicted. I have no idea if the aubergine is a Japanese food though? Looks right to me though...

Not sure, but is this depicting aubergine? The stalks and leaves seem similar to the ones attached to the vegetable, and the aubergine itself seems to be depicted by the outlined area instead of the solid? If so..a novel way of depiction, and quite effective. Brian

Thanks for that Reinhard. I will pass it on to the person interested. Great info. This one looks like an interesting blade, and hopefully I will be able to post more pics shortly if all works out ok for the possible owner. Much appreciated. Brian

Deleted the duplicate new post. Mike, I think that at around $4K, you should be able to get what you are looking for. Not sure about with papers, but certainly something nice. Buy a blade that appeals to you, and don't worry too much about the smith or papers. Nice to have, but everyone has great swords that don't have papers. No..it doesn't matter where you get the sword from. Places in Japan like Aoi have good deals sometimes, but then the USA shows are also a great place to look. I am sure those who attend will tell you that you could find something nice for $4K. You should always see if there are any shows near you that you can get to. Nothing better than buying when the sword is in hand. Good choice going for 100 yrs or older. Rather a good Shinshinto than a bad Koto..and that is a mistake many make..getting obsessed with age. No..a new sword will cost about $8K and more to have made. It is a rule that antiques can be had for better prices than having a Shinsakuto made for you. However second hand Shinsakuto can be a good deal (http://www.aoi-art.com/sword/katana/08046.html) especially with that longer length. If you can live without koshirae, and get something in shirasaya, you can do even better in antiques. The main advice is to be patient, and see what comes up for sale here, or what people point out to you. If possible, get a look at it in hand, otherwise listen to advice, and don't rush! Brian

I won $1 last time. Gee, I could buy the uchiko that is wiped off it next time it is cleaned :lol: Looking at the market lately, I really do see a change with the global economic crisis. People either seem to have no money, or lots of it. Therefore junk or really dirt cheap blades are selling, and top end stuff is selling. Mid level is battling to sell. Lots of stuff around $5K-10K still sitting, while anything under $1K flies, and the best stuff still trades in private. I think a lot of dealers are forced to lower prices to cope. This one is a good deal, and I bet it is gone by this time next week. I see lots of Japanese dealers are expanding into the Western market, but unloading low level swords that are cheap and common in Japan. Brian

I'll say it again for about the 20th time....pics under 800 pixels wide WILL get more views than 1200x1200 images that are converted to a link. Tsuba display fine at about 600 wide easily, and display directly. Resizing and cropping is vital if you want max views...your choice though. Brian