md02geist

Tease

That's great! I'd love something like that.

Do any of these ever show up for sale (particularly that can be positively identified)? I think they would be something really really neat to have. In particular I really like Gunbai (and all the myriad spellings of it).

Is there a "quick and dirty" approach to determining whether a WW2 sword is an actual WW2 Japanese blade or just a chinese or other manufacturer knock off? What should I be looking for in each?

I wanted to get that Trevor Absolon book but it seems to be on hold at the moment.

Hello all, Can anyone make some recommendations of some good armor books that I may use to begin studying Japanese armor throughout the various eras? One with lots and lots of good pictures would be great -- I am an extremely visual learner. Also a book or books that aren't going to cost me hundreds of dollars to obtain copies of would also be good. I would like to start slowly. Thank you!

Agreed. Anyone else have any comments on the blades?

Nice, I have been looking for something like this. Where can one buy it new? I checked amazon and it seems there is only one used copy, listed at 120.00 USD.

I believe you are right. I very much like the idea of a tsuba designed after such a thing!

Wasn't able to find much on chohan but it certainly looks a lot like that gong doesn't it.

Here is a closeup of the wakisazhi nakago. I was told the waki was "14 and 13/16" long" and told about nakago "length 5 1/8 inch long, width at ha-machi 1 inch." Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I want to go to Japan one day.

thanks for comments so far. I will ask for pictures of tangs, and dimensions.

Wakizashi: By md02geist at 2011-07-07 By md02geist at 2011-07-07 By md02geist at 2011-07-07 By md02geist at 2011-07-07

Katana 2: By md02geist at 2011-07-07 By md02geist at 2011-07-07 By md02geist at 2011-07-07

Katana 1: By md02geist at 2011-07-07 By md02geist at 2011-07-07 By md02geist at 2011-07-07 By md02geist at 2011-07-07

Hello all, Can anyone assist in identifying a few blades? Two katanas and a wakizashi. Please PM me if you can so I can email them to you, thanks! For the record they ARE NOT MY BLADES and despite what the pic captions say I didn't take these pics.

Sai Jo, thank you, I will look them up! K morita, ありがとうございます

Certainly is a good start, thank you!

I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction to find actual information regarding animal/insect/plant symbolism in Japanese history? I would love to see what popularly represented creatures/plants meant (things like dragonflies, sakura blossoms, etc) if they had a special meaning attached to them. I've done lots of searching the net but find lots of conflicting or totally different information from one site to the next, so I'm wondering if there is a book I should be looking in.

...with your nihonto? Do you put them in a special safe to maintain their value and condition? Do you display them in some sort of secure case? ....do you hang them on your wall? Just curious.

Haha that's something that happens everywhere. What DOESN'T happen is all these people coming out of the woodworks to give you advice without going "LOL UR A NOOB" and such haha

Hello again all, I want to thank those of you who have come forward to assist me in learning, and to give me good information. Already this has been one of the most welcoming forums I have visited (I have posted on many) and I thank you for your help. I see that this community is very tightly knit and I am glad!

Seen that happen but thankfully nobody was injured. Bad stuff.

First let me clarify that I would NEVER use an antique nihinto for chopping things up! Second while I appreciate the concern, I am ex military, took various martial arts, grew up in the SCA, and have been collecting various blades for 20 years. Right now my collection is mostly busse, swamp rat, and bark river. High end outdoor knives mostly, no true swords to speak of. I am not saying I am some expert warrior but I am capable and careful enough with blades to know precisely how dangerous they can be. I do however thank you for the cautionary words! But please don't think I'm going to take a 500 year old blade out back and whack trees with it, I did not mean to give that impression. I'm in Richmond Virginia.