Brian

Very educational, thanks folks. Have to bear in mind that we are talking about probably 2 of the 3 best iron tsuba makers (along with Umetada Myoju?) and pics don't tell the whole story. I will look forward to seeing some of their work in Japan..maybe you guys will give me some lessons. Please keep the info and comments comming. Regards, Brian

I would like to see a pic of the nakago before I could comment more.At first glance I would aslo say WW2 era, remounted by someone who wanted something a but better than the normal dagger. Would help if hada and hamon were visible, but failing that, nakago shots will tell a lot. Whenever I see a shinogi on a tanto, I look for more info. It was done sometimes, but far from the norm. Brian Edit to add: Missed the pics posted after. Hmm. hard to tell for sure. It doesn't have the typical WW2 dagger nakago, but still not up to the usual tanto standards either. The ana is quite far down the nakago too. If I had to go with gut instinct, i would say a shortened wakizashi remounted and reshaped at some stage. Other comments?

Stunning tsuba Pete, yours? You can see how well the surface has been worked. Can you give us some kantei points on it? Brian

Yep, agree. Just loaded the pics now, and it doesn't look good at all. Amateur carving, and the ana are completely wrong. If the lower one is supposed to be the original, then can you imagine where the "mei" would have been originally? No signs of yasurime at all...doesn't even look like a bad cleaning job. I would be very suspicious about the sword. Let's see a pic of the kissaki and that will likely tell the story. Can't be 100% sure yet, but it doesn't look good. Sorry. Brian

The (very) little that I know about Kaneie tsuba would back up what Curran said..and I do get the impression that a lot of the Kaneie workmanship is best seen in hand and from the actual working and composition of the steel..hard to see in pics. I will be looking out in Japan to expand my knowlege on them. There is something about the shape of the tops of the mountains.. Brian

What is the length of the cutting edge now? Judging by how much it has been shortened, it must have been a heck of a long blade originally. This one is very interesting, especially with the horimono (carved designs) Definitely older than WW2, but jusging by the patina it wasn't shortened hundreds of years ago. Not sure how much info you can get on it in this state though. It's not like anyone can look at it and say how old it is and who made it. I think if it were mine, I would definitely consider getting a window polished to see what turns up. It could be worth a polish, definitely worth finding out more about. Brian

Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill One mountain climber at a time folks...step right up...queue here.... :D Brian

Don't know the answer for sure, but if you separate it into hamaguri and 'ha'..hamaguri is a clam and ha is of course the cutting edge. So that would tell me that the ha is clam shell shaped, and I would assume does mean it has niku. Brian

All I can tell you is that the theme is the carp swimming up the waterfall. When he goes throigh Dragon Gate, he turns into a Dragon. Associated with valor and perservance. Brian

Jacques, Anytime local settings block you from viewing a webpage, use an anonymous proxy browser. There are lots, but an example is http://www.youhide.com/ Just put in the url and hit go. Brian

Thanks Morita san, I see that quite a few of the bidders are telling him the same. So probably Masaie then. Something rings a bell here though. A while back, wasn't there another kinpunmei sword on eBay that everyone jumped on and thought was Masamune, and then there were also people saying it looks like Masaie or similar? This story just sounds very familiar to me. I have tried searching, but can't find the post. Anyone else remember a similar story? Brian

Milt, Obviously I know next to nothing about tsuba and am trying to change that, but in my novice opinion at first glance it does look Akasaka to me. Hopefully the "old iron" guys will chip in and give more info. Brian

Great work Steve, thanks. I'll add it to the useful articles list for download. Brian

If you wait, the right sword will come along. Just give it a week or 2. Btw..you might want to look at that horimono sword again. In a chat with Ford, it was pointed out that while the horimono might be later than the sword, it isn't too terribly done, (judging by how the kani are carved) and might be not as bad as it looked. It does take some skill to carve kanji into a blade. Not saying it is a brilliant sword, but if it goes around $600 or so, and it does have NTHK papers..might be a good deal. In a reasonable polish, can see everything. Kissaki maybe slightly reshaped at some point to get rid of a chip? but you could do a lot worse if you get it for $600 or so. That is the price of the shirasaya and papering. Brian

Joakim, Genuine sword. However I think I see quite a bit of leftover pitting on the blade in places? That combined with the amateur polish and chips that aren't fatal but not great..hmm. You aren't going to ever get an answer here saying for sure "buy it' or "don't buy it" as that isn't what we are about. You need to look at it, decide if it does it for you, and make a decision. It needs work, and you aren't going to spend the money on restoration ever. So I guess you need to decide if you want to wait, or get that bug out of your system now. It's a project blade, and you aren't going to make much money passing it on later. Not a bad price for a katana, but not a bargain if that is pitting I see. Btw..can you see the boshi? (temper line going into and around the tip) You already have a good idea it is gimei, and that it is likely from the Kanbun period, late 1600's. You aren't going to find out more info than that. Tough choice and one you need to make. My advice is still a good wakizashi over a mediocre katana. Brian

Wow..for the gun fans like me, that must have been an awesome day. I know that getting an original is high on my list. I assume that they are registered and deregistered on the same torokusho as the swords are, with the same procedures? Or is it a different procedure? Funny...I have seen lots of swords in old shops and markets, but never a teppo/tanegashima except at the dedicated sword shows or shops. Brian

Never heard of it. maybe just a brand name. Just use regular light (sewing) machine oil, or search the forum for oiling blade. There are lots of threads about oiling blades. Brian

Charles, I think having the papers is certainly better than no papers at all, and although not as highly regarded as some of the other organisations, the people who issued them are likely still light years ahead of us in giving an attribution. You should use their attribution to study up on the Bungo Takada school and see if it matches their work. Search the forum and the net for that school and you will pull up lots of info. Sounds like a good deal getting any papers if they weren't mentioned before. Bungo swords were utilitarian, and made for battle. Some good ones out there, but most were true working swords that served well on the field. See this link: http://www.nihonto.com/abtartbungo.html Regards, Brian

Hi Rich, Yep..I do agree with you, but have been specifically requested to do one for the novices to cover some of the subjects that are asked about so often. (More of a beginners section) I don't plan on putting up a comprehensive guide to Nihonto, as that is well covered by sites such as yours. I think just a few basics, maybe even linking to posts here that have discussed various subjects, might be helpful. It will also be a good place to put some of the great articles we have. That way, we don't have to keep posting the same replies and links..it should mostly be in the faq. There are still some good articles out there on whether to polish or not. They can never say yes or no...but they can guide you if the sword is not worth it, or has serious flaws, or mention that you seldom get your money back. Anyways, it will hopefully just be a few good pointers that will allow people to understand some of the things spoken about here without having to ask every time. I appreciate the offer to link to your page, which I always do. As you say...can't re-invent the wheel Regards, Brian

All, I am currently working on making the NMB FAQ page, to cover many of the basic questions we get asked frequently. I don't want to make it a huge section..there are plenty of pages dealing with the basics. However there are many topics that we could include for novices so that they don't have to search the whole forum for the answers already covered. What I would like from you all, is some idea of questions you would like briefly covered. I know the ones such as: How to oil and care for a blade, how to spot a fake, how to disassemble a sword. Then there are more serious ones such as: Is it worth polishing? Please give some of your thoughts as to topics that should be covered. Since I don't have all the answers either, I will be asking if there are folks who are willing to write up a short article on some of these. I don't want to copy ones already published on other websites word for word. We have some great articles from Guido already. Is there anyone who is prepared to write a basic article or 2 on some of the questions that will be featured? Maybe things like "sword ettiquette" (Grey? ) and a brief glossary on the basic words. How about a Nihonto pronunciation section (words like hakkikake spring to mind ) Anyways..for now, let's see what questions you would like covered. And please remember this is supposed to be a basic FAQ, so we won't need to go into too much academic debate on subjects that take a book to cover. Thanks, Brian

Nothing about that tsuba says repro to me. It is a genuine Soten tsuba, just maybe with a gimei signature. You see this very often on Soten work that don't match the mastery of the top masters of the Soten school. This one doesn't look like a bad tsuba either. Not as good as many, but there are thousands of medium class Soten tsuba out there, many signed (real or not) by the masters of the Soten school. I haven't checked the mei yet..so it could be shoshin or gimei. Just commenting that the tsuba itself looks ok to me. Brian

Franco, Yep..that's why I said "Original, well done, and tasteful horimono..." Horimono that are obviously not original to the blade when manufactured should be examined to see why they were done and if they are hiding something. Let's not come down on the seller on this one...he doesn't seem to have done it, and is notifying potential customers that it was done recently. No hostage situation here :D Brian

If you are refering to the kanji characters engraved on the blade, since it is mentioned that they are modern, I would have to agree with you. Not done well, for no real reason, and just detract from the blade. Also ruin the value. Original, well done, and tasteful horimono are one thing, but not this type of modern embellishment. Sad. Brian

I don't envy the shinsa panels who get presented with swords regardless of whether they are typical examples or not..shows that it takes a lifetime of study to get to that level. I was thinking more of less formal kantei, such as when seeing a sword at a show or presented with something for sale or opinion that might be mumei. Looks like the way to study swords is to first know how to differentiate a good sword from a bad one. Then you can narrow down to a school or smith. It might seem like a simple thing, but with swords not always in good polish, the difference between a good sword and a mediocre one is critical, and what I would love to see more articles and debate on. Something to bear in mind for all the novices such as myself For the overseas collectors at the Taikai who are NBTH members, I beleive there will be an excellent talk on this after the show for those who will be there. Brian

That was a good one Ford Haynes H03393.0 shows Kiyoyasu, approx 1800 with that kao. No other info given. Brian Edit to add: Shosankenshu confirms it with that version of Kiyo shown.