Brian

We'll have to do something, yip.

Can you believe we are coming up to 20 years old? I'm amazed myself. Can't believe myself and some of you guys have made it almost 20 years. Almost unheard of when it comes to internet forums.

Thank you John. Agree. Could have easily set these to be available to Gold members only, as a perk. It was tempting, as we don't have many fundraising events, but decided that Rayhan's efforts and the NBTHK generosity deserved them being shared with everyone. But a membership is a tiny amount considering the wealth of info in the downloads section. No just these, but take a browse through our free library there, there is an incredible amount of info over the past 18+ years.

@RobD I have re-enabled that in the settings. It was turned off for some reason.

This is not mass produced, and those fittings are well done. I'd happily own it.

Read the bottom of that thread

Afraid one of the requirements of the NBTHK permission was no bulk downloads, so this is the best compromise.

@Lewis B, to prevent hammering the server and costly bandwidth charges, the following limits are in place: Regular members - 10 downloads a day, 25 per week Gold Membership - 20 downloads a day, 50 per week. Max of 2 simultaneous downloads at the same time. If you had downloaded some without issue, this may be the cause? If not, drop me a message and I'll look into it. Sorry to have to put restrictions on downloads, but at this stage can't afford to pay any more for hosting, and even uploading these and editing every single title screenshot and details is killing me I think I've managed 30 uploads so far. Rest will likely be on Monday.

Ditto. On my 2 stick ones, no amount of work, heat or oil has ever allowed them to come out. I gave up. Good work.

Just a thought, I wonder if those are rice bales, or some sort of rat trap where they can get in, but not out?

If you know the prices are ok, and you would at least get your money back if you sell, then the risk is minimal. But both, and if you find things a bit tight, you know you can sell one or both and recover your funds. That's how I work with my knife collecting, and so far I've managed to keep everything I wanted to keep, safe in the knowledge that I am just storing funds that I can recover if I need to.

Yip...awesome work by Rayhan, and a huge thanks to the NBTHK for allowing this. I will be uploading them into a special section in the Downloads section over the weekend, and it will likely take some time to get through all of them. Really excited about this. There will be a disclaimer to agree to when you download, to prevent commercial use etc. The downloads section is for members only, so hopefully this will also encourage some of the lurkers to sign up. Only requires a free membership, no subscription needed. Info like this is invaluable to collecting, and I am grateful to be able to facilitate this. Thanks again to the NBTHK, Rayhan and those that worked to make it happen.

I can't think of a single time anything was stopped in check in luggage for reasons of "national treasure" and that is the last thing I would worry about. It's not going to happen, and no-one is going to stop you to check for quality. At the most, they may ask about it, you say "it's under 15cm blade and doesn't require paperwork" and they will let you proceed. I left Japan with a small Jumonji Yari and a yari in shirasaya in my luggage and no-one said a word, even with X-Rays. They didn't even ask to look at them. Don't stress so much.

I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that mekugi ana plays a part. A blade under 15cm, with no mekugi ana, doesn't need to be registered. Like a kogatana.

As Eric said, your sword is illegal in Japan and can't be registered. Even if it's blunt.

Appreciate it guys

The good news is that it is real, and antique. DON'T clean up the rust yourself, or remove any of the patina from the tang.

Tested both Edge and Chrome, everything working fine and all pics visible.

I know next to nothing about these. Contact I have dealt with before in other edged weapons asked my opinion of this, and I'm not going to take a guess. To me, look like a genuine but mass produced wartime one. Mass produced blade with artificial/no hamon. No point disassembling. Can anyone give their opinion and maybe average value in Europe on these? Thanks in advance.

Please keep personal comments in private, and posting personal info beyond what people have given is frowned upon. Posts edited.

Buy both. Worry about how you'll afford them later. You'll always find a way. Never regret buying something you want, otherwise what are you working your whole life for?

Tempted to agree with you Geraint, but I do see a lot of semi decent work there, more than would be required just as an export piece. I suppose this could be a Meiji period special order piece for some occasion. Shape looks inspired by a Bashin, and the whole thing does seem diminutive. Maybe made for a lady, who wanted something flashy. Either way, it is a genuine Japanese piece, and definitely has some interest. I guess we'll know more once we get a translation.

Very typical and clear Chinese fakes, of very low level.

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/52285-tsunagi-maker-sought-in-north-america/#comment-546002 Mike Virgadamo is kinda under the radar and doesn't really publish contact details online, but I think his phone number is in the book, and someone will have pm'ed you his details.

Forget Google. Search this forum for those last names and all will be revealed