Ronin Akuma

THE USUAL SUSPECTS Great movie!

Does lack of a yokote mean anything? I have a WWII sword and it has one. This one does not.

I don't know anything about tsuba, but here's one I found: http://www.choshuya.co.jp/1/0812/member_frame_fittings.htm [No.22(page 33)] TSUBA Ken-katabami mon Tadanori saku Certified by NBTHK [sUBJECT] Ken katabami family crest [TYPE] Tsuba : a sword guard [ARTIST NAME AND SCHOOL] Tadanori, He was a pupil of Tadashige Akasaka [AREA OF ORIGIN] Musashi province [PERIOD] Late Edo period Length : 78.2 mm Width : 77.5 mm Thickness at seppadai : 6 mm [sTYLE] Tetsu ji marugata nikubori jisukashi marumimi [KIRI BOX] This tsuba comes in a custom made wooden case. [PRICE] 220,000 JPY

Still jealous that you got this one with "our" family crest, but congrats on the purchase!

Congrats on winning the bids and glad you were able to keep the collection together!

Junichi- Yes, the maru-ni ken katabami is my family's mon as well. I was going to ask you too!

Chris- Like the sword you had, I have a Seki sword with no arsenal stamps on it. Pics on this thread: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=9956&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=0 I hope it's a good thing! Stu- I hope you get the info you need, but "mill steel gendaito" just sounds wrong to me. The seller probably doesn't know what he is talking about... But I'm a newb at this and don't know what I'm talking about much either!

誕生日おめでとう!

Thank you Richard. Been there and checked them out as soon as I heard the names (Amahide and Kanemune) and Googled them! Great resources!

Mothra!!!

Petasites Japonicus aka Fuki 菜蕗 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petasites_japonicus Also Butterbur or Rawan-Buki

Found some info here: http://www.jp-sword.com/files/blade/masatsugu/masatsugu.htm

Took some more pictures and added them to my Photobucket album: http://s223.photobucket.com/albums/dd145/BSP06XRU/Nihonto/?start=all Here are a few that I like:

Yes, looks like the middle one by Amahide's son, Kanemune. Thank you very much Stephen.

Didn't find any on e-bay to compare. I don't really want to spend $115+ to get the Slough book. Maybe in the future when I become more of a collector. For now, I just want more info on the sword I received. If anyone can scan and post the images of the Fukumoto Amahide examples I would appreciate it! Thanks in advance!

Great service... 2 days later and I already received and watched the DVD. Awesome and very informative. Thank you Paul!

I don't know anything about it, but my family name is FUJITA. 藤 田

<=== See my avatar pic That Jingasa has the same mon as my family!

Thanks for the info. Got to look them up and compare...

Ordered my DVD earlier today. Can't wait to receive and watch it!

I am speechless at the quality of the filming and especially at the quality of your work.

Here are more pics of my sword: Thank you Bruno for your time and assistance through PMs. Both are greatly appreciated!

I figured as much. Guess I'll have to bite the $115 bullet and get that book someday.

Hi David- How can you tell? Do you have any examples of their writing styles I can view? If you have links to any examples, I would appreciate it. My parents would be able to read and/or discern better than I. Thank you in advance. I am new to this field and need all the advise I can get. It's about time I got to know the culture of my heritage!

I'm new here Mike, but I like the generosity of your gesture and it makes me glad to be a part of this community. I have friends and family in Japan and I will let them know about what you are doing to help. Thank you.