md02geist

Thanks Jim. I did some homework on him and found good reviews including by some NMB board members but maybe I should have dug deeper. Very frustrating to have dealt with all this shady back and forth BS over a blade I was pretty excited about.

Oh I'm not trust me. I won't deal with him again.

A horrible experience with him. I arranged a deal with Kanetoyo for a Naminohira Tachi. We arranged this several weeks ago. We agreed on a price and I told him I would send him 1000 as a deposit and await better pictures (because TBH his pictures were horrible). He agreed. He sent me better pictures and I told him it looked great and I would be sending the remainder of the money asap (and got distracted with real life stuff). About 230am that same night (my time, I'm totally asleep most nights at 230am as I have a JOB that starts early...) he sent me a message "Do you buy or not? I can cancel." He then cancelled the sale, refunded my deposit, and I woke up to that. I then told him yes I would buy, and resent the deposit per his instructions and told him I would send the remainder of the money asap if he understood the terms of our agreement completely (the price, what I expected, that it was to be as represented or a return could be made) and was comfortable. He said this was fine and he agreed/understood, so I sent the rest of the money and gave him my PO box to ship to because it's far more secure and will be easier for me to get ahold of the blade than my home (which I would likely miss delivery of). Not to mention it keeps some mail person from schlepping it around and possibly damaging it further. AGAIN around 230-3am my time he sends me a message "I am not confident with this sale" etc etc because he states he can only send to paypal address that is the primary on the account. He states that an "American charged back" against him several times. He also told me the sword had been returned once "by an American who stole koshirae." (more on that later). He also tries to sell me on TWO different swords including one I am sure is not his own sword (it had MARVELOUS pictures compared to the rest of what he sent me). He repeatedly tries to convince me not to buy this tachi. At this point I'm getting suspicious that he's agreed to sell it to someone else at a higher price. I wake up AGAIN to see my money refunded except this time paypal is holding it for a week, and they've flagged my account as suspicious because there have now been several large transactions bounced back and forth from the same person. I tell him it's FINE to send it to my home if that's what he wants to do but I tell him I'll need to wait for paypal to return the money so I can pay him again. He says this is cool "I have been thinking over this transaction and it is okay" or similar. I waited until *this evening* when the money was finally refunded, and told him I was ready to send it. He said he would send invoice. He then sent me a goofy video of the sword claiming it had a "very loose habaki" in which he took the sword and shifted it up and down in the handle of the shirasaya; it's clear the mekugi was not installed but he tried to claim he "didn't know why is broken" and "could not repair." I verified that we had an agreement on all the terms and he said that I would NOT be able to return if it was not as represented. This is in direct violation of what he told me earlier. He says "I never accept returns." Also in direct violation of his earlier statement of an "American" returning the sword and "stealing koshirae." He then continues on with "Furthermore, negotiations of the return goods are tiring. I not want deal with you. Next time." He's now discontinued any communication with me and blocked me from messaging him further. So to summarize: -Agreed on price for blade -Cancelled my deposit without warning, for no reason -Re-accepted my money, but then tried to sell me on 2 different blades in the meantime -Cancelled my purchase AGAIN and returned money without warning, causing a week hold on funds from paypal and flagging my account -Accepted my money a THIRD time after I waited for the funds to clear paypal refund, and then on the evening of the deal cancelled the deal a *third* time, now blocking me from further messaging because he now didn't stand behind his product and said he "never took refunds" even though he claimed earlier in our conversation the "sword was returned once by American who steal koshirae." -Has now blocked me from commenting, reviewing, or messaging his Facebook page. I have *never* been treated this unprofessionally in my life and the fact that he tried to sell me on several other blades, tried very hard, and then refunded and cancelled the sale on three separate occasions tells me he probably just sold it to someone else for more than I was paying and wanted to maximize his own profit. So be advised; if you recently purchased this blade from him, this is what went down regarding it. Sad to see this guy act like a scumbag after I read some good reviews of him here and on FB.

thank you very much Jussi! Quite an interesting selection there. Look at the sori on that third one! Wild!

Yep. Good to have it available for those of us in the US now without having to pay for shipping from UK. I had a UK order on tap and cancelled it for this one.

Thank you very much for that link; not quite what I'm looking for. I do appreciate it however. It's a nice one but feels overpriced. Ofc maybe I'm off base we all know something is worth whatever someone will pay for it lol.

I think so. Ayasugi hada is found only in some early Naminohira and only partial ayasugi. It isn't wild and full like Gassan. At least, this is how I understand it.

And preorder this one too: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568365837/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 That's ~100 dollars well spent on some of the greatest Nihonto reference and education books out there. People LOVE these.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568365837/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Available for pre-order now on Amazon US. Release date of March 17, 2017. 39.95.

Hey man, Grab yourself a copy of this pronto: https://www.amazon.com/Connoisseurs-Book-Japanese-Swords/dp/1568365810/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486082572&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=connossieur%27s+book+Japanese+swords It was just reprinted and is now available for like a fraction (1/2-1/4) of the price it was before. You've jumped in at a solid time.

Muromachi Takada? (Edit: I have more than 100 posts so I guess I'm disqualified but I'm still rather new at this)

I like this display case a lot. Did you have it custom built / make it yourself? I'd like something very similar.

Wonderful these are all great. Please feel free to share any and all info on your displays such as the components, blades, tsuba, etc. I'm very interested in all of your displays as I am considering how best to begin my own.

As the title says, I'd love to see your displays. Thank you!

I'm in the closed beta for that game "For Honor" and I can tell you that if you enjoy complex combat systems akin to fighting games, as well as a VERY steep learning curve then you'll like this game. It seems to appeal to the same sort of people that put hundreds and hundreds of hours in to the Dark Souls etc titles. If you don't dig that sort of thing then you probably won't enjoy it. It looks really cool and character design is neat but I'm not loving it so far, I'm too old and don't have enough freetime to devote to learning the nuances and mastery of every single option in a single video game. I just don't *care* enough to put hundreds of hours into one game. I'm playing it some but I'll just never be probably very good at it. I still get killed by the computer sometimes.

I think being upset that your sword won't go past TH is silly lol. Also can't see why the oldest swords would begin to take a backseat to some of the youngest swords. OFC I'm still fairly new here so maybe that's just me.

Got mine yesterday. It's legit. Awesome stuff.

Mine is supposed to be delivered tomorrow.

Still looking, thank you

Fantastic thank you!

Ken and Jean, Exactly what I was asking; where they fit in *during* the middle and late eras. I'm sorry if I didn't phrase it clearly! I can see where my comma would provide confusion. I was just looking to see if there was actually any use of the ken (or straight edged blades) in actual combat, campaigns, or the like in the middle and late eras or if they simply became entirely regulated to ceremonial and display purposes or what. For instance like I said we see ken made in the muromachi; I can only assume they were made for ceremonial blades, glorified wallhangers, or the like. Although many of them seem made good quality and ready for combat if necessary; I could only guess that is to show respect for the blade itself and for the smith to show off their abilities.

"A straight two edged sword that was produced prior to the 10th century, and may be without differential hardening or folding." "Usually a tanto or wakizashi length religious or ceremonial blade, with a gentle leaf shape and point,[4] but some may be larger and can also refer to old pre-curve types of swords as above. Symmetrical and double edged." There is nothing contrary to what I just said in the link you provided. And I need to add that this isn't a random question I haven't done *any* research on whatsoever. I'm simply wondering if there is any use of them *outside* of the stated ceremonial or religious usage in middle or later period. We see ken made in the Muromachi for instance.

Where do they fit in, in middle and later eras? Ceremonial stuff?

I have a hard time believing that a warrior whose life would rely on his weapons would not know or have techniques on how to maintain them, up to and including sharpening blades. I'm sure there were toshigi and the like who went along with armies and invading forces but I don't think they would do a complete polish from head to toe every single time the blade got dull. Of course I'm just speculating and have nothing to back this up but in an era where they were conservative enough to make things like naginata naoshi etc, one would believe they would try to get the most use out of their swords as possible unless they were filthy rich and could just buy more.

Those are so neat. Have always wanted to get one.