paulb

Jacques you may wish to reconsider yor post. To say you dont believe anything you dont see is an extremely narow minded approach. When a respected member here states he has had a sword papered, to not believe him without seeing it amounts to suggesting he is being dishonest. I hope that neither of these are what you intended in your post as both are unacceptable. Regards Paul

scan sent

Hi Eric, thanks for that. I have no doubt that mine is a much later copy. Fortunately I only paid £20 for it and it sits well in the space I had in mind for it. I was, and still am truly taken by the image. I think it is extremely evocative and deceptively simple in composition. I have spent many years studying western painting and am only now looking at this type of work in more detail. I think it is going to be a facinating journey. Thanks again Paul

I have had the pleasure of seeing this piece on several occassions in hand and as has been said by others it is absolutely beautiful. I have said on many occassions that I am not a fittings person and very few move my limited imagination. This piece is probably the one I have lusted after the most amongst any I have seen. The sculpting of the Fox and his expression as he looks at his deceptive reflection as a princess is scaled and worked to perfection. The whole composition leaves you breathless. ( in case it isnt clear I do rather like this work!!) Thanks for posting it Ford Regards Paul

Dear Dan, I have spent a lot of time recently studying Nashiji hada. In reality it only exists in work of the Awataguchi School but others such as Rai and Hizen attempt to get close to it. Until I saw the examples of nashiji close up I thought they had succeeded but in fact they were nowhere near. The use of Muji hada was an attempt in Shinshinto times to emulate the nashiji acheived in the 13th century Yamashiro group of Smiths. One reference I read (cant remeber which) describes Nashiji by sayining they believe it is very tight ko-itame but it is too small to see clearly. This is further confused because it tends to be created by very tight forging combined with profuse ji-nie. The question then comes as to how they did it. I am not sure anyone really knows for sure. However you have to assume a couple of things. 1. The raw material was of extremely high quality and purity, lending itself to the formation of nie in considerable quantity. 2. The smiths continued to fold the steel to the ultimate point they could before either loosing hada altogether or burning off all the carbon. How they knew when to stop I have no idea. I have to say and I am totally biased in this that having seen Awataguchi nashiji hada there is nothing else like it and it is stunningly beautiful. I wish you luck in trying to make it. If it helps I have a lot of images of Awataguchi work which I will forward to you if you pm me your email address. Regards Paul

At the risk of being controversial if I was looking for "dream steel" without any budget limitation I would not be looking at modern smiths at all but concentrating on some of the stunning kamakura pieces which can still be purchased. There are some very skilled modern smiths producing beautiful work but I would argue that it does not compare to what was being made 7-800 years ago.

Hi Steve I think the likely answer is no they would not be able to do that. I know that if someone loses Juyo or Tokubetsu juyo papers they will issue a substitute document that confirms the blade was papered (not the same as a new cerificate) but I do not think they are able to keep sufficiently detailed archives of previous submissions to offer the service you describe on the lower level papers.

Chris I agree that where money is involved there are always crooks. I am assuming that the very high % of fakes Kunitaro san is quoting relates to the current papers in circulation not the level of fakes being issued during the 50s and 60s. As stated before the NBTHK encouraged people to resubmit swords under the new system. It is reasonable to assume that the majority of these were re-papred successfully. Therefore for those that remain in circulation with an old style paper one has to ask why? I also note your comments relating to Dr. Comptons collection and these points have been circulating within the community for some time. Again the only way to prove the point is to have the sword in question resubmitted. However resubmission is not always practical and at the higher level requires time and a relatively high expenditure. I confess to not being wholey unbiased in this having one sword with a high level older paper (issued in 1969) which no-one has expressed any doubts about. I would be reluctant to resubmit without a compelling reason.

Hi Jean, Yes I was sure you were but thought it should be confirmed/clarified. best regards Paul

Hi Jean, I would like to qualify your comments a little. I believe the lack of reliability in older papers relates to the lower level papers, white green and the later introduced "light green". Not only are some of these unreliable but some have been faked. I do not believe the same can be said of Juyo papers. There are many who believe the criteria to achieve Juyo staus blades in the 60s were more severe than current (up to the past couple of years which seem to have become more stringent). I think that the problem arose as you say from local branches issueing papers. As far as I am aware Juyo papers were only ever issued from the HQ. I can accept that over the past 30 years greater research may result in re-attribution to an alternative smith or even school. However the quality of higher papered swords should be consistant. Best Regards Paul

Hi Mark, As it is a Genadaito why limit yourself to Gunto mounts? It is an opportunity for you to do what countless generations of Samurai have done in the past and have a koshirae put together for it to your own taste. Whatever you do, gunto or traditional will not be authentic to the piece so you may as well put something together you really like.

Dear Hoanh, Hizen no Kuni fujiwara Yoshihiro (my kanji reading is poor at best so others may well correct my attempt)

Hi Sam, Fujishiro appraisals have been, and I believe still are well regarded. As you say possibly not as highly as those of the NBTHK or NTHK but still very accurate. His only disadvantage is that his certificates represent 1 person's opinion where the other two bodies appraise with a commitee. personally I would be happy to have a blade with one of his papers. Regards Paul

Hi Mariusz, for what it is worth I am still going to go with Shinshinto. I think it has been well crafted and made to look old and the nakago reasonably patinated. but under the colour the nakago still looks "clean". I think the hada also suggests later work. Again only opinion and I have often been wrong before cheers Paul

Hi Malcolm, I cant get an image of the back at present, I am shortly going to be on the road again for a few days. This has been remounted and framed recently so taking it apart may be a little challenging. The seller made no great claim for it and as I said I bought it knowing nothing about it other than it appealed. I will see how easy it will be to take out of the mount when I get back thanks for the input regards Paul

Thank you very much Chris

dear All, I am well out of my comfort zone with this but bought the print below for very little at a local antiques fair. I liked the compostion and colouring. I would be grateful if anyone can throw any light on the inscription Many thanks Paul

Hi Matt, with a 14" blade it is more accurately described as a ko-wakazashi. Yes it would detract from the value, how much depends on the age of the blade and who made it as well as the condition of what is left. For example a blade by a famous tanto maker such as Yoshimitsu with this would be accepted and the value not greatly depreciated. If it is by a more run of the mill maker and a much newer blade ( I think this one is shinto BTW) then the drop in value would be greater.

Hi Matt, Welcome to the board. Can you let us have some dimensions for the blade please? regarding the shape near the habaki it is generally caused when the blade becomes chipped and the polisher has to remove metal from the edge to get rid of the chip. You see it quite often on older blades (or those that have ahd a rough life) regards Paul

Hi Chris, probably something I have done wrong. Go to the articles section on the board here. look for "Size Doesnt matter" it is a PDF article so shouldnt be a problem

Chris, I dont know if it helps but while reading articles you might want to take a look at the one in the articles section http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/arti ... matter.pdf it gives some background and thoughts relating to size and collectivity

If it turned out to be a genuine blade by the smith it is claimed to be, you could afford to pay him 10x the difference and still be well in pocket. :D unfortunately the chances of it being by the named smith are about as high as me winning the lottery.

Hi Paul as discussed in email I think the problem is in this condition. you cant tell much. based on Slough's book this smith made both Showato and Gendaito. Unless you can see any detail in it is pure speculation as to which this might be. If it is a Showato it might be valued at 100's of dollars as a low-ish grade war made Gendaito in polish it would be worth more, but the cost of the polish would be more than the price of the blade. I think Grey's advice is very sound (although waiting is never easy) but to learn something from a sword you must be able to see some of the detail. Good Luck Best Regards Paul

I think you have highlighted the point its "oddity". Putting a price on it is very challenging because they arent seen on the open market much. I would suggest your starting point is what would it be worth if it were a bulk standard mid range quality wakazashi in this condition. You then take a substantial chunk off that value because it is going to have very limited appeal. As you suggest it has curiosity value but what is that worth? I think the big problem is when wanting to move it on finding someone who finds its oddity value equally appealling.

Brian, I think you did well on this one. I like the shape and the hada. The reason you thought it was a cut down naginata is that the shape Jacques describes was, I think, produced to some extent to imitate just that. I have attached below an image of a Naginata naoshi. This dates from the mid 14th century. You will see the naiginata hi and the fact that the boshi has no return. When all this is said your balde is still an interesting piece and as I think Keith said significantly better than most of the pieces you have bought before. Before thinking of having it papered look at it in great detail, understand all the features and try and decide for yourself what you are lookng at. Then the papering exercise should be used to confirm what you have already decided.