Brian

Joshua, I regard these as high end custom swords/knives of the type that modern knife collectors would own. Basically a custom knife in the tradition of the Japanese katana. As a once off item, I think they would appeal to collectors of modern edged weapons, but i would not consider them as made for the same market we deal with. Brian

JSA is a Japanese auction site: http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/japa ... links.html Sword looks good to me at first glance, at at that price it looks like a good deal. Not quite sure what is going on in that nakago though...will take a closer look when I get home. Need to check the placement of the mei, and the 2 yasurime division lines and all the ana and see if they all check out according to the suriage job that was done. Brian

Thanks Scott. I am not going to go into the gun debate, but I hope the seller realises that many top dealers, JSSUS members and collectors also collect and/or study other weapons. I am sure they would be very surprised to hear that they are unsuitable to collect Nihonto What amazes me most though, is that a person selling polishing stones to almost anybody, not knowing what blades they might ruin in the process..dares to suggest he has the interests of Japanese swords in mind?! Y'know..freedom means he has every right to sell to whomever he wishes, and I would not argue at all with his right to choose. However that same right gives us, the customer, the right to totally avoid his auctions and mention his comments to others so that others can make up their own minds and choose whom they prefer to deal with. Brian

I'm still waiting for Piers to let us know what that wierd little item is that he picked up. Brian

Very nice Michal, thanks for sharing I love those fine sukashi designs, although they aren't as sought after as old iron. Some very nice ones there. Brian

Been there, done that. viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2642 Don't forget to sign posts with your name, Ron Brian

Probably not..after a 2 am late Chinese New Year celebration at a small Chinatown street here :D I'm just a little fuzzy right now..lol If it was Afrikaans I might have more luck..so a translation would be appreciated. I assume the soldier was Nakajima Tadao and the rest is an address.? Thanks for the work so far. Brian

Hi. I was wondering of anyone could assist with the translation of this surrender tag. I know it probably only gives the name and address of the soldier, but I won't know unless I ask, right? This is beyond my feeble attempts at translating. Came on a Shin-gunto with mumei older blade that I am still researching. Pics of that in the near future. Thanks in advance, Brian

No....Milt is the one that bought it Nice. Brian

Mikael, On the tabs and uploading issue, most of these are caused by that first style Prosilver. All of these issues can be solved by chosing another style in your profile (see How to section) where you can at least have a preview of the other styles first. That Prosilver theme/style is a problem, and I am probably going to end up removing it or changing it, but there are too many people still on it for me to change it now. I urge people to have a look at the other styles and make a change if they have any problems. Brian

Mikael, Take a look in the "How-To" section and all shall be revealed Brian

Agree with Milt, not confident this is genuine. Post some other pics and let's see. Some of these mei lately seem to be done with a dremel instead of chisels, and the yasurime don't look great. But other pics will clear it up. Brian

Walter, The place you linked the pic from does not allow hot linking...so we are seeing a "no entry" sign instead of the pic. That is what Milt meant. You may be able to see it, as it is cached in your browser. Upload it here or to imageshack. The link is currently at http://daggers.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/ga/ul/1720061135/inlineimg/Y/forge_markings.jpg Brian

Fascinating comparisson. I would love to find out more about this theme and links between the 2. The inletted plates are too close to be just a casual copy. Here is a side-by-side to compare them. Brian

Guido..but we like your pompous and condescending self! :D And we wouldn't dare to complain, as we are all secretly a little afraid of you and your evil dead/undead twin. :D Brian

Thanks for sharing Clayton. Looks like a very worthwhile project, and a much needed one. Will be great to have all the details of our swords on the pc in a standard format. I'll give it a try this weekend, and set up the various fields for nagasa, mei, sori etc etc. Regards, Brian

Well done Frank, and good for you for trying it yourself. May it lead to fluent translations oneday Brian

Paypal is generally easy to use and reliable. Also accepted more and more. You should have access to it if you plan on buying anything (especially from Japan) My feelings on it are a little less enthusiastic, coming from a country that is allowed to send payments, but not accept them. And the old timers like me that got in early and are still able to accept payments cannot withdraw them, only spend them :? But that shouldn't worry you folks in other countries. Brian

Thanks Ford, great link. Thanks for sharing. Is this an early edition of the trial web magazine that Ichi posted about here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2609 Brian

Thank you Ed, we can always count on you for a great write-up and nice photos. It is nice to be able to put faces to the names too..and I see you slipped in there for a change too :D These shows look like a lot of fun and some serious business can be done too. I guess I join many of the members overseas in being VERY jealous, but I will definitely make it over oneday. Brian

There was more than one Yoshifusa working in Seki during WW2. Probably a Showato, but you will have to check out the blade to confirm this. See: http://home.earthlink.net/~ttstein/seki.htm and http://www.jp-sword.com/files/seki/gendaito.html Brian

Moved to this section as it is more suited. Ratings can be artificially inflated and dealers can turn bad from once good. eBay is a risk. Rather buy from sellers you know. There are a number of members here that sell there, and if you ask for something specific and give a budget, you will likely find something. Milt also has a number of tsuba for sale in his photo album. What are you looking for, and what is your budget? This is a debate with no answer..but eBay and tsuba are very risky, and anything nice is spotted by 100 ppl before you, and don't think that because there are few bids, no-one saw it. They saw it..but had a reason for not bidding. Many dealers have better deals off eBay if you ask around. The sword shows are also supposed to be a great place to buy at good prices. If I had one near me...that would be the route I would go. Brian

Brian, Not to put you on the spot or anything, but knowing that you are fully qualified there in Japan...what is your current waiting period for those that might want to contact you about polishing work? Regards, Brian

Indeed... When I was at Aoi, I saw the huge amount of swords in their vault that were on their way out, and he also told me that online is a small part of their business. I think they have their client base, and what isn't taken there ends up online. And he also had good words about "Guido-san" so you must be a good customer Guido :D Brian

Moriyama san, You are right, that is very bizarre! I do love manga and anime, and yet this seems to be telling the history and basics of Nihonto using cute manga girls? I can't read it, but looks like they cover many subjects, and the way they are expressed is cute but strange. Take a look...I wish it was translated. Brian