Drago

:D Well, I'm a beginner. So I asked because I'm not sure. My guess would be: The bo-hi was cut later and/or not that professionally, the second hi was only one of those short ones (don't know the term). And the blade is polished down so much that the tip of the bo-hi has gotten that close to the kissaki.

Hi, I'd like to point you to this Aoi-Art auction: http://www.aoi-art.com/auction/en/aucti ... 1213703271 (I thought about uploading the picture but didn't know about rights and stuff. If one of the admins knows if it is okay to upload the picture...) What happened to this sword? The bo-hi runs on the shinogi for most of the blade and only runs above it at the tip. The tip of the bo-hi is very close to the kissaki. And at one point there seems to have been a second hi below the bo-hi that has been lost to polishing or perhaps it was just a short one. Does it just look so odd because the blade is tired? Was the bo-hi cut later without caring for the shinogi? Or what? I'd be happy if you could explain. Thanks.

Hi Geroge, would you kindly point me to the "recent discussion" and "Tom Kishida's research" please? Back to the topic. Well, many RJT smiths' works have been praised by experts. I remember reading about a Nagamitsu blade on JSI that cut a helmet in an official test. So I think it is safe to say the quality of the blades is very high. But it might be difficult to compare "modern tests" (straw and steel) to "traditional tests" (bodies). :lol: How about taking some RJT blades and test cutting a couple of pigs halves. I'm not really being serious here but this might be the only way to get a reliable comparison to the testing methods used on wazamono blades. Although I have to admit, if it was possible to find a reliable comparison/translation, I'd more than welcome it.

Sorry, Sorry. I just started working and have been so busy I simply forgot. Sorry again. And thanks for your answer.

How about you write Morita-san directly. Perhaps he can find the time or knows someone...

Thanks, I'll have a look.

Ed, I agree with your interpretation. I think this is the original skull of that ghost (-> no legs) when the woman was still alive and it's "memories" are keeping it alive. Might also be a curse. The text looks contemporary with the painting. But if someone has the tine to translate it, I'd be happy to hear that translation. But it certainly looks Japanese, not Chinese, because I think I see some hiragana here and there. Ah, I always wanted to get a yokai or ghost scroll, but those are so rare and if one pops up on eBay it often is in bad shape. If you know any good sources...

Hi, Here's a question for our resident Japanese and those others of you knowledgeble about that kind of stuff. I have a Japanese vase that came in a kiri box. The vase was wrapped in a piece of orange cloth to protect it inside the box. Now I got a new kiri box for an other piece of art I have and I'd like to wrap that up as well. What is that cloth called? (fukusa?) and what is it usually made from? Do you know?

Hey Ford. Nice tsuba. Can you tell me what it is I see there? Do the shapes have a special meaning? Are they letters? Anyway, I think if a swordsmith makes a tsuba it should always go together with a sword made by him.

There'll be a German version as well, I suppose? I haven't bought vol.1 yet. I'm still hoping I'll get it as a Christmas present. :D

Toppei koshirae. I like those. Supposedly, they were inspired by western military saber mountings. Here's another one: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/sword20.html That doesn't have a kurikata but goes more into the direction gunto ashi.

Thank you very much. I'll check those books out.

General history. (of course, that includes the Samurai, but not exclusively)

Hi, (I hope this is the right place.) As the title says, I'm looking for a good book that will give me an overview of Japanese history from ancient times to today, language English or German. In German I found "Kleine Geschichte Japans" by Reclam (516 pages at 15x10cm) but no reviews on amazon. A register for searching is a must. Maps and perhaps other illustrations would be good. It would also be nice if there was an appendix that listed names and places in their Japanese writing. But that might be asking too much. What books can you recommend?

Odd. I downloaded it three times and it didn't work. Now I downloaded it the 4th time and it works. Really odd.

Hi, first of all: Thank you very much. BUT: When I try to open the first file, I always get an error message - "file damaged" or something like that. Could someone please check?

Hmm... Ono is good, but I also like Sugita Yoshiaki. But then again, perhaps I'd buy something really old like Paul. If possible, I'd be interested in buying the Doujigiri Yasutsuna... :D

Hi, of course I know that depens on a whole lot of conditions (the time (violent vs peaceful), length of career/life, number of desciples, area of residence etc). But have there ever been studies into the "average" number of swords made? If you know anything, feel free to share... Thanks.

The small text on the right gives the length: 1 shaku 2 sun 2 bu which should translate to 37cm.

:lol: Ich weiß was du meinst. (for our English speaking friends: I know what you mean.) But I still like it.

I have to say I'm not really a Katchu guy, though I am a bit interested in Kote. I was googling to see if the Yasukuni Shrine had a Mon on its own when I found this Kabuto. I just thought: Wow! Check it out. http://pinterest.com/pin/279926933059053688/ EDIT: Click on the photo to see some more interesting armor designs. (If this has been discussed before please fell free to close/delete this thread.)

Bumping a little.

Very interesating. So, what is the reason for doing something like that?

I have seen those bag like things you put over the tsuka and tsuba in many films and some for sale on eBay. (First off, what are they called in Japanese?) What purpose do they serve? Are they just to project the tsuka from the weather while travelling? Or do they serve as a sign that you do not have any ill intentions? I mean, when carring your sword on a journey that cover sure makes it hard to draw the blade... Thanks.

Well, I have to say, I'm an avid fan of Japanese anime and manga. This is what got me interested in Nihonto in the first place... :D In anime you often see very unusally shaped Tsuba e.g. very odd shapes or shapes like the crossguard on European swords. From what I know, there are two types of Tsuba commonly found on Japanese swords, either the usual disc shape (plain, with engravings, sukashi etc.) or Shitogi Tsuba. (and of course aikuchi sized preuso-tsuba usually made from horn - if you can count that as a tsuba) I'd like to know if anyone knows of genuine Tusba that do not fit the two usual types. So if you have ever seen something that you would call "unusual", please post some pictures. Thanks. Oh, btw: This is really akward for me. Is the plural form of Tusba "Tsuba" or "Tsubas" in English?