Brian

Henry, I am sure that must be 幸巳 Kanoto Mi (haru) http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/kanji/zodiac.htm and http://www.jssus.org/nkp/kanshi.html will explain the dating system. So this would then be Spring 1941. The Koa Isshin Mantetsu saku of course is explained on http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/koa.htm Hope this helps. Regards, Brian PS - The only thing that confuses me too, is that according to Dr Stein, Showa Kanoto Mi haru is 1941, but according to Rich's page, Showa Kanoto Mi is the 18th year of Showa, which to me says 1926+18-1 = 1943

All, I was sent this link: http://www.donmyra.info/ While I hate to have to post warnings like this, please be aware of the info therein. These seems to be enough corroborating evidence to be cautious. I had to mediate on behalf of a friend who also had a huge amount of grief trying to get videos he ordered. I had claims of severe illness, lost packages and other excuses before they finally arrived a few months later. Just be cautious, and if anyone has info to contribute, best to send it directly to the people on that website. Brian

Barry, Almost... :-) Redid and fixed the links. When using imageshack, use the first link marked "Hotlink for forums (1)" The syntax is: Check out the How-To section for more instructions on uploading pics. Thanks for the info, that is a stunning and unusual katana! It went to war? Brian

Richard, If you can get some photos or a scan done, I am sure we can assist here. Post a pic or 2 of them, one at a time, and we'll see if we can help with the translations. Brian

Glad to be wrong here What was odd to me was that modern looking design. The moon almost but not quite joining the seppa dai, and the regularity of the lines seemed quite odd. Both sides of the mountain also don't blend well, coming close to the seppa dai and then just being curved abruptly to join. I guess not a very common theme in its execution. I was pointed to Suruga with the shape of the sekigane. Brian

All, As most will know, when we had the (involuntary) server move by my hosts, they managed to screw up the tables collation and scramble most of the old kanji in posts so that they became unreadable. There was no real quick way to remedy this, and since I regard many of the old posts as valuable archive materials, I have been slowly over time going back and finding all those old posts with kanji in them, and manually editing each one and correcting the kanji. Since I am not able to redo the translations myself, and can't possibly ask our resident experts to redo them, this involves using the very much appreciated (and underrated!) Google cache system on each individual post and then where possible editing each post, copying the kanji, replacing them and saving the post. I have done quite a few posts that I have found so far. The reason for this post is to ask everyone..in your searching and daily reading, if you come across a post with scrambled kanji in it, please drop me a pm with the link, and I will work on sorting those posts out. This is a long term project, and i don't need 100 links just yet. Many posts aren't urgent as they only contain one or 2 kanji characters, but there are some posts with extensive kanji in them that are valuable archive material. These are the ones I would like to address first. I have done many of the sayagaki ones so far, but please let me know if you see others that need doing. Many thanks, Brian

Remy, I hope you don't take offense, but on a serious Nihonto forum, I am not sure exactly what kind of reaction or replies you hoped to get on displaying Tosogu in the bathroom :? I can't see much else constructive coming from this one..so let's leave it right there. Brian

Yep. I think there is enough discussion on hagire elsewhere on the forum for this one to be redundant Brian

Hi Teppo, Interesting tsuba design. I don't have anything to back this up at all, besides pure first imression gut feel. But something about this one looks too perfect and geometric. Sun, moon and mountains theme? The lines look very straight, regular and planned to me? Something doesn't give me that antique traditional Japanese aesthetic here. Can't describe it easily, so maybe I am just (hopefully) seeing things here. Brian

Yep...there does seem to be us steady stream of masochists who clearly don't value our sanity very much It has been run by an American, and Australian and a South African. Oneday it will be passed on to another insane custodian, but hopefully not in the too near future. Brian

Hi Steve, Yep. With the 2-stroke horizontals on the "naga" kanji, this may be by the Gendai smith Nagamitsu. Are there indications it is a Gendaito? Looks like a nice find if the blade is ok condition. Brian

No worries Rich, in this place I am Herr General FeldMarschall, and none of that deviant stuff will creep in here :lol: Good soldiers follow orders, and Generaloberst Batmann knows well to keep that stuff far away from here I am sure Brian

On thinking about it, I thought it might be a good thing to create a dedicated thread for new member introductions. I have taken the liberty of using your post Barry, and changing the title and making it a sticky. For those inclined, it would be great for new members to post here a short intro to give us an idea of who/what/when etc Always nice to know a bit about the people behind the posts. Brian

Barry, Great to have you here. I think it is great of you to post an intro, would be nice if people would do that when joining so that we have a bit of a background (although never compulsory) Look forward to hearing more from you. We have all sorts here, from tanegashima guys to armour guys and of course the swords and fittings guys. I think you will find we have everyone from teenagers all the way up to those in their mid 70's here. A good mix. Welcome Brian

Hi Barry, Great to see you here If I read Henry's other post correctly, although contact wasn't made, the sword in question did eventually arrive (although not being Nihonto) Regards, Brian

I would expect that you wouldn't have problems if it was in checked luggage and you have shown the permission to export. However that would depend on the airline. Some might refuse to transport weapons, other might be ok with it. I have flown back with a yari in shirasaya in my luggage with no problems. Best to check with the airline beforehand, although you might want to call it something other than a "samurai sword" as saying no is easier than saying yes. Brian

Hi Bill, That is some interesting research there, linking the 3 mei to one smith. Would you be able to provide some sources of the info if possible? Brian

Chris, Unfortunately both of those other forums have been closed permanently and deliberately due to various reasons by the owners, and it is not technical problems causing the errors. It's not always easy or a lot of fun running them. Brian

Marcel, Check out the articles section of the forum. There is a very good article there by Guido on Japanese Sword Laws and Import/Export. That should explain the procedures. I assume the smith will register the sword and get the torokusho, and do the submitting of it for deregistration and export. Once that is done, you can take it with you, or have it shipped by your choice of shipping courier or EMS. Regards, Brian

Andrey, Congrats. That is a great job. I am usually very hesitant in encouraging cleaning jobs on tsuba, as there is just so much that can go wrong in the hands of an amateur. However you seem to have struck the right balance of not overcleaning, not oiling it heavily and not using anything abrasive, and have just removed the surface and active rust. It looks great. The inlays don't look cleaned besides the soap and water treatment, and you seem to know not to take it further. Great improvement. Brian

It started with a corrupt sql user table, and that led to the whole forum going down with errors. Last I checked, Ford and Lorenzo have been very busy trying to restore the database, but there have been hassles with restoring from a backup, and they are doing their best. These forums make me petrified when problems occur. They are so very technical, and most of us admin are so clueless that it causes headaches just thinking about it. Yes..I live in constant fear I am sure Ford will update us shortly, and I hope they will be back soon. Brian

It's an anime Xmas cutie guys....... :D Time to be merry and jolly and stuff. I think it's adorable. No-one presenting me with a sword for Xmas Happy Xmas eve all those that celebrate it, may your stocking be filled with Nihonto, Tosogu.... or women :lol: Brian

Henry, Lug nuts are those bolts that hold the wheels on Perhaps someone could clarify this with Tsuruta san? I know it is unlike them to advise something like this, so perhaps he meant iai or something else somewhere? Either way, at least it is clearly mentioned if not pointed out in the pictures. Brian

Odd. Brian

I don't think this is about status at all. It is a nicer and more difficult method of binding. I guess it was up to the owner's taste and pocket what binding he requested. It wouldn't be more significant than just personal preference, kinda like anyone who wears expensive sunglasses but lives in debt. I like that binding..but I wouldn't read too much into the rest of the package based on the tsukamaki. Nice menuki and reasonable handachi fittings. Overall a nice package that might have been enjoyed by a merchant or ? Brian