Bungo

Where is this little critter you are talking about?? at the bottom , near the edge of the kimono milt the ronin

" Sorry Milt... not with you there.... The Fuchi and Kashira on CG Art look like copper (?) They look carved rather than inlaid. " Now I see, you mean Colin's f/k and NOT my kozuka......... " We know who wears the swords in your house then!! heh heh heh!! " yeah....only way to keep the peace, make love not war.......... we made it to 5th page yet ? milt THE ronin

make it to 5th page yet ? picture of gaisha holding the dog............. http://www.esnips.com/web/Japanesepaintings milt THE ronin

Kapitan, what do you mean by not inlaid work ? it's not painted on................ have you noticed the little critter at the bottom of the kimono rack ? it's the woman ( being seduced )'s dog. I have a painting showing a gaisha holding just such a dog.......... ( the original set are three paintings, the gaisha painting is the center, the other two are VERY graphic despiction of the male and female " member " ........no, my boss did not allow me to buy the whole set ) milt THE ronin

http://www.esnips.com/web/kozuka?docsPage=3#files look at shunga1.jpg milt THE ronin

not me buying that Aoe arts set..........I buy mantis fittings in sword shows then try to re-sell to you with SMALL mark up ( a matter of principle ). The big menuki set in my e-snips folder is still waiting for you........... p.s. I assume you looked over the Mino school mantis tsuba with twin dragons on the rim, yes ? milt THE ronin

it says......... 身の長さは7尺１寸２分、拵えの総長は1丈１尺３寸2分あり、 but how about the weight ? milt THE ronin

john et al, I am sure the daimyo and such had the polisher do their works, but.......... during battles while the situation is " fluid ", I doubt they did a " proper " polishing job ( even Big Mo can't polish a katana in one day ). Most likely, they just take out the chips, sharpen it and that's about it. At that moment I am sure they treat the swords as weapons and not objects of art. Also, I am not a sword guy but I think the " polish " as we know it today didn't get started till late Edo period ? milt THE ronin

When looking at those old edo period woodblock print books on military subject, very often you see pictures of armored samurai, ashigaru doing their own " sharpening " of swords. Logistically it didn't make sense to have the togishi do the polish when hundreds needed the service asap at about the same time. Remember the swords were treated as tools, not art objects before the battle. milt THE ronin

Brain........... you got my " preferred " number, ja ? milt THE ronin

that's Katanajap. I bought a few things from him , so far no problem. Wait longer enough ( if someone did not make him an offer in the mean time ) and everything on his web site will be on e-bay. milt THE ronin

most of the pattern is worn but you can still see some left on the sack milt THE ronin

as a general rule of thumb............... treat all sellers from China, Hong Kong ( except that flyboy Hizento dude )and SE Asia selling Japanese swords as potential " problem ". Also bear in mind that in China there's a law banning export of antiquities ( punishable by death, usually a bullet to the head, family members pay for the bullet ), so when you see they are selling Ming vases, paintings with loads of imperial seals etc. etc., you have to ask yourself this question........ " would that dude be stupid enough to risk his/her life just so he/she can sell you a national treasure for 99 cents starting bid and 90 bucks EMS shipping ? ". If you think yes, why not ? THen may i have whatever you are smokin' ? it must be very good sh%$# !! milt THE ronin

couldn't get it through private message .............. my apology to the list for non-sword related topic but the spirit is relevant. for the kapitan......... http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SPORT/11/24 ... index.html milt THE ronin

sorry wrong link............. here's the one http://www.esnips.com/web/tsuba?docsPage=28#files file symbol.jpg

" can definitely see swasitkas in this pattern on the fuchi and kashira, and on Currans tsuba too. I'd be interested to see an example of that if anyone knows of one. " http://www.esnips.com/ViewDocumentAction.ns milt THE ronin

just look at the tip of the nakago................. milt THE ronin

my first deep fried turkey

due to the economy ( poor state thereof, contrary to what the higher up tells you ), most states are in big budget deficit........ now this little known sh%$# tax they called " user tax " are beginning to kick in. User tax is one way the states try to recoup loss revenue from the internet. I received a sword from canada ( NOT sale ) on behalf of a friend just so he dpesn't need to carry it across the international border to attend a sword show. Fed Ex with it's triplicate custom declaration et al......... "big monetary value declared ", even custom broker fee paid ( by the way a rip off as antique over 100 yrs. old are exempt ). Fully 2 years later, I got a letter from the state saying they are " investigating " a possible " tax recovery " from little ole me !! Not very pleasant when the taxman cometh calling out of the blue !! Not saying this will happen to anyone , but just be aware that any time big $ declared for insurance purpose, the taxman may smell opportunity and decide to go on a fishing expedition. milt THe ronin

検書焼燭短看剣引杯長 this is dangerous stuff............ reading books till the candle burned low, holding a sword while drinking. milt THE ronin

http://www.esnips.com/web/tsuba?docsPage=14#files look under file " ortho dragon " and http://tinyurl.com/y8zkru signed but less detail. which one comes first ? milt

what loss of hamon ? whatever you are smoking......quit it !! milt THE ronin

black rust under the habaki, whole tanto shows no hamon ( dull grey ), bought it for the koshirae. Big Mo informed me about the hagiri at the foundation polish stage, I went ahead and have it polished................ looks great with habaki on best looking tsunagi ( spelling ? ) in the world lesson.......... think why the sword is suriage and look under habaki, why the black rust while the rest of the sword is just dull grey. milt THE ronin

in my e-snips...........look into nihonto folder. One with file names Yukimitsu and the second one is Mino. http://www.esnips.com/web/nihonto/?flush=1 spot the problem.....plenty of hints given, a very easy quiz milt THE ronin

life could be a lot simpler if they provide the NTHK paper !! " The 1989 shinsa of Nippon Token Hozonkai evaluated this wakizashi at 70 points and identified it as the work of Satsuma Kuni Masafuso, 3rd. " May ne the auction mispelled the attribution ? he meant Masafusa ? milt THE ronin