Brian

All, A collector has emailed me asking me to notify the forum of 2 auctions that he is running on eBay with most of the proceeds going towards the Red Cross for the benefit of the Asian disaster victims. I am always wary of these auctions, but I have checked them and they are being done through an authorised eBay Red Cross charity feature, so they seem ok to me, and for a worthwhile cause. The one is for an NBTHK tsuba, and the other is for a wakizashi. Please take a look if you are interested. Thanks, Brian http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0262908161 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0262230139

Much as I hate to continue the light off-topic banter here and would like to move back to the genuine article, since Swiss army knives have come up, just had to show this one off that I saw on eBay yesterday. It's genuine, and limited edition, and goes for around $1000. Brian

Keep abusing a tanto and having it polished until it is worn down to the point that it becomes a kogatana...then keep going.. :lol: I've seen kogatana worn much more, to the point that they are thin and half the width. I think that being general purpose knives much as we use a Swiss army knife, they had a hard life. This is the reason I guess why they were so easily removable from the kozuka...so that they could be replaced easily. Brian

Bit of a laugh never hurt, and keeps us from the daily stresses. They aren't mutually exclusive either...not like we only get 2 posts per day and if we use them on this thread, we can't participate elsewhere But of course this one, whilst fun, is flogged to death now I think. Brian

Piers, I guess that is a difficult one to pin down. I think if they meant the line, then they would have said den Munemitsu or something. I would expect they were refering to a particular smith, but as you said there were a few. Did the dealer add to the attribution right on the origami? Might be the one working around 1532 or the 1558 one? Good smiths anyways, and perhaps an enquiry directly to the NBTHK would yield some results and narrow it down? Not easy without further info though. Brian

Outstanding Ford! A magnificent step by step visual guide. Yep..I would say this is the perfect section for it. Brian

Very bizarre. Not in any of my ethnographic edged weapons books. Oh well..have emailed the seller the new link, maybe he wakes up. Probably not though. I'm glad we at least know what a Japanese sword looks like Brian

In the interests of openness and a fair and transparent sale, the seller has given permission to discuss the sword, as he feels he has nothing to hide, and as an inexpensive wakizashi, it is worth the effort for the sale. So feel free to give opinions bearing in mind this isn't a $2500 sword that is supposed to be a Juyo condidate. Regards, Brian Edit: Please note that I don't discourage the discussing of any items for sale, it was purely the fact that once an item has been "sold" and is awaiting payment, I don't think that is the time to start asking for opinions. That should be done before the sale or afterwards once payment is made. This doesn't affect any standard discussions we usually have here. Glad to see the possible buyer and seller are working together here.

Walter, Looks genuine to me. Not high class but original blade and kozuka. Haven't looked at the slideshow yet (dial up hassles) but if there is nothing dramatic there, I would go with low to mid level kozuka with a genuine and well used kogatana. Ok to fill a lot in a koshirae, and there is/was a mei on the kogatana (these are seldom of much relevance) Regards, Brian

Sorry folks, not going to happen. The Nihonto community is tiny, and half of those sellers are members here, and it is just too open to abuse. We already have a decent database the way we are doing it now anyways. Just search the forum for a regular seller's name, and you will have some input on them. Every seller has someone who wasn't happy with something, and even good guys will get bad feedback from someone. Just not viable here. What if someone buys something on the recommendation of a bunch of members here, and it is bad? Easy to say we don't take responsibility...not so easy to follow through with that. Brian

Thank you Brian and Andrew for your insight, much appreciated As expected and suggested, this isn't a job for anyone that isn't well trained. A lot of what looks like a simple bend is actually much more complicated including kinks or twisting. I am glad I don't have to be the one to do it, must be pretty nerve-wracking. A correction in a slightly wrong place, and you have another problem to deal with. I expect when a bend has occurred that the steel might be a bit work hardened there, and resist bending back in exactly the right place? Brian

Firstly, I would notify eBay with any proof that he neg'd you for not leaving 5 stars. Make a big complaint. Then, you can leave a second note on his feedback too. So go nail him there. Even though it will show positive feedback, you can leave a note saying "This seller gives negative feedback if you don't give him 5 stars. Beware, and avoid him" or something like that. Don't let him get away with it. Brian

Since I had a free 5 minutes before bed, and was in a photoshop mood... (No..not a good photoshop job, but a quick one) Brian

Milt, Omote is the side that typically has the mei (katana, tanto, wakizashi) and the ura has the date usually. Omote refers to the side facing outwards as worn. Note that the ura and omote on a tachi are on the opposite side. Btw..great article as usual from Dr T: (Well worth a read) http://www2.una.edu/takeuchi/DrT_Jpn_Cu ... cement.htm Brian

Hi Milt, They always face the tsuba, so the shishi will be facing the saya (ignore the fact that one is looking back over his shoulder) Regards, Brian

I have the answer! It is a reverse horimono! They cut away the rest of the sword in this case, and just left the horimono instead of the other way round. Ok... 'nuff now. If only we discussed real swords this much. Brian

Hi corvuscorax, You need to please sign all posts with a name. I hope I am not coming across as rude or difficult, but I have some problems with discussing a sword that has been purchased but not paid for yet. I think we either need to ask before we buy, or after. But there is a risk of giving opinions on a reserved sword and then having the buyer back out of the deal, leaving an unhappy seller. Hope you can understand this. I am happy to open this up for discussion if either the payment is completed and it is fully yours...or if the seller lets me know it is ok to discuss it before payment is fully made and while it is reserved. Sound fair? Pm or email me if either of these are done, and I am happy to allow comments after that. Regards, Brian

I think we can safely rule out Goto school from this one? The question is, are there others signing Seijo or is this just a gimei on silver fittings? Brian

Nice blade P. Rowan. Please sign posts with a name, thanks. I would agree, this doesn't look at all like a normal machine made blade. It definitely looks forged and folded, probably from different steel to the traditional tamahagane. Perhaps that company was experimenting with steel or forging. It would pay to investigate the company a bit. Well done to the forum sleuths again I would send the link or info to Ohmura san, who might have info on this type of blade, or be interested in it. Does show some vivid hataraki, if not totally typical. I think the WW2 Japanese sword collectors would love this one. Brian

Sorry to hear that Malcolm, Perhaps you can narrow down your location a bit so that the members in that area can keep a lookout locally? I would also keep a close eye on eBay. I think it is the modern "fencing" operation. Brian

William, Does look like it is at least suriage. Very controlled hamon pattern of regular gunome, one larger, one smaller repeated. Not sure if this will help with an attribution. At a guess I would say late Shinto, early Shinshinto? It has had that dreaded ferric chloride treatment though, so needs a polish to bring it back. Condition still looks ok and healthy. Brian

Thanks for the additional info Reinhard. I think you and Jacques have this one locked down. This is one of the few mei that I have seen where I can honestly say it is almost a perfect match. I would be surprised if it wasn't shoshin to this smith. I think we finally found a shoshin mei! :lol: :D Nice work guys. Odd..since we are supposed to be famous for not assisting newbies all that much. :lol: Brian

Dr L, Thanks for a well written and explained reply as always I do encourage people to have a go at their own items, no matter how novice they are. It shows an attempt at learning, even if sometimes we have no idea. Not a rule though, just a suggestion as pointed out. I also don't think that a lack of answers is necessarily a lack of people trying to help, but sometimes is an answer in itself. If the item is awkward or modern or not good quality, then often people hesitate to say this for fear that they will seem too judgemental. Not saying this is the case here, but for the future, sometimes no answers are an answer by themselves In this case, although I don't know the school either, I agree with John's answer of late work..maybe mid to later 19C, from someone who knows the art, but hasn't reached a level that we might see in better works. It is a perfectly adequate and genuine tsuba imho, but not of a higher standard. The work is ok, but the composition and placement seem a bit off. Not easy to express in words. Not a bad tsuba though...it would be interesting to be able to verify the school but not sure this is typical of a particular school, or maybe John is correct in his analysis. Regards, Brian

Swordsmiths rarely used their own real name. They took on an art name, and this is the one they signed with, and became known as. Later generations would use the same name, or maybe take a character from that name and add one of their own. So basically your swordsmith is Tsunahiro...history doesn't usually record what their real names were. Brian

I agree with Jacques, it is a close match, and looks shoshin (genuine signature) to me. Brian